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RECOLLECTIONS. 


BY 


GEORGE    W.   CHILD  S. 


*'  So  runs  the  round  of  life  from  hour  to  hour." 

Tennyson. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.    B.   LIPPINCOTT   COMPANY. 
1890. 


7  5  C^5  3 


Copyright,  1890,  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company. 


tilUkM^l^RRKED 


) 


RECOLLECTIONS. 


THE   STRATFORD-UPON-AVON 

MEMORIAI^    FOUNTAIN. 


THE    MEMORIAE   WINDOWS   TO 

HERBERT,    COWPER,   AND    MIETON. 


THE   ANDREWES   AND    KEN 

REREDOS. 


THE   PRINTERS'    BANQUET. 


PEEFAOE. 


When  Mr.  Chilcls  consented,  with  un- 
feigned reluctance,  to  tell  the  story  of  his 
tranquil  life,  he  was  not  at  all  persuaded  of 
the  propriety  of  sitting  down  before  the 
public  and  chatting  familiarly  of  himself 
and  his  friends.  He  had  been  asked  to  do 
this  many  times  before,  but  neither  the 
persistent  importunity  of  enterprising  pub- 
lishers, nor,  of  course,  the  tender  of  gold, 
could  move  him.  Finally  the  temptation 
to  do  a  friendly  act  overcame  his  scruples, 
and  the  readers  of  Lippincoifs  Magazine  were 
given  the  series  of  four  entertaining  papers* 
embodied  in  the  present  volume.  However 
stubborn  the  resistance  of  Mr.  Childs  may 
have  been,  and  whatever  doubts  he  may 
have   entertained  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the 


*  Published  in  the  issues  of  June,  July,  August,  and 
September,  1889, 

1*  5 


6  In  Explanation. 

undertaking,  he  could  not  liave  been  other 
than  deeply  gratified  by  the  flattering  recep- 
tion of  his  Recollections  by  press  and  people. 
Perliaps  no  magazine  articles  of  the  year — 
certainly  none  of  the  multitudinous  volumes 
of  reminiscences — were  so  loudly  heralded, 
so  extensively  quoted,  so  unanimously  ap- 
proved. Extracts  are  still  current  in  the 
country  papers ;  rare  and  cordial  words  of 
appreciation  still  come  from  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  world.  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  was 
kind  enough  to  say  that  he  had  read  the 
personal  memoirs  of  Mr.  Childs  with  profit 
and  pleasure ;  and  General  Sherman  avowed 
that  they  would  have  "  fifty  times  their 
value  fifty  years  hence."  Without  exception 
known  to  me,  the  newspapers  of  this  coun- 
try and  England  extolled  the  interest  of  the 
articles,  the  Boston  Herald'^  saying  that 
*'  Mr.  Childs's  recollections  are  so  good  that 
he  ought  to  publish  everything  he  knows 
about  Grant;"  and  the  Chicago  News-\ 
uro^ino^  that  "  when  these  reminiscences  are 
concluded  they  should  be  published  in  book 
form,"  making  this  suggestion,  as  it  went 
on  to  say,  "  in  behalf  of  the  very  many  who 
wish    to   preserve   Mr.    Childs's  interesting 

*  July  17,  1889.  f  August  8,  1889. 


In  Explanation,  7 

and  valuable  contributions  in  a  convenient 
and  handsome  shape." 

The  suggestion  had  been  made  before; 
it  was  made  repeatedly,  and  by  many  whose 
disinterested  and  critical  judgment  had 
naturallv  so  much  Aveio-ht  with  Mr.  Childs 
that  this  book  is  the  happy  result.  To  the 
text  of  the  four  original  papers  have  been 
added  the  story  of  the  Memorial  to  Shake- 
speare at  Stratford-upon-Avon ;  an  account 
of  the  AVindow  in  Westminster  Abbey  to  the 
memory  of  the  Christian  poets  Herbert  and 
Cowper;  the  Window  commemorative  of 
the  virtues  and  genius  of  the  poet  Milton,  in 
St.  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster;  and  of 
the  Reredos  erected  in  St.  Thomas's  Church, 
Winchester,  England,  as  a  memorial  to 
Bishop  Ken  of  that  ancient  cathedral  city; 
toijether  with  a  sketch  of  the  celebration  of 
the  birthday  of  Mr.  Childs  by  the  printers 
of  Philadelphia,  with  an  introduction  by 
Professor  Richard  T.  Ely,  of  Johns  Hopkins 
University. 

Melville  Philips. 


RECOLLECTIONS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A    HOST    OF    3IEM0IIIES. 

Early  Life — Publishing  Experiences — Purchase  of  the 
Ledger  —  Irving,  Hawthorne,  Lowell,  Holmes  —  Dis- 
tinguished Guests. 

I WAXT  to  set  out  bv  savino;  that  I  am  sure 
vou  ill  kindness  exaii^scerate  the  interest  the 
world  takes  in  me  and  my  affiiirs.  You  say 
I  am  a  successful  man.  Perhaps  I  am  ;  and 
if  so,  I  owe  my  success  to  industry,  temper- 
ance, and  frugality.  I  suppose  I  had  always 
a  rather  remarkable  aptitude  for  business. 
James  Parton,  at  aiiv  rate,  was  ria^ht  in 
speaking  of  me  in  his  biographical  sketch 
as  "  bartering  at  school  my  boyish  treasures, 
— knives  for  pigeons,  marbles  for  pop-guns, 
a  bird-cao;e  for  a  book." 

I  was  self-supporting  at  a  very  early  age. 

9 


10  Recollections. 

In  my  twelfth  year,  when  school  was  dis- 
missed for  the  summer,  I  took  the  place  of 
errand-boy  in  a  book-store  in  Baltimore,  at 
a  salary  of  two  dollars  a  week,  and  spent 
the  vacation  in  hard  work.  And  I  enjoyed 
it.  I  have  never  been  out  of  employment ; 
always  found  something  to  do,  and  was 
alwavs  easier  to  do  it,  and  think  I  earned 
every  cent  of  my  first  money.  When  first 
at  work  in  Philadelphia  I  would  get  up  very 
early  in  the  morning,  go  down  to  the  store, 
and  wash  the  pavement  and  put  things  in 
order  before  breakfast,  and  in  the  winter- 
time would  make  the  fire  and  sweep  out  the 
store.  In  the  same  spirit,  when  books  were 
bought  at  night  at  auction,  I  would  early 
the  next  morning  go  for  them  with  a  wheel- 
barrow. And  I  have  never  outgrown  this 
wholesome  habit  of  doing  things  directly 
and  in  order.  I  would  to-day  as  lief  carry  a 
bundle  up  Chestnut  Street  from  the  Ledger 
office  as  I  would  then.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
carry  bundles  very  often.  But  I  understand 
that  certain  3'oung  men  of  the  period  would 
scorn  to  do  as  much. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  I  entered  the 
United  States  navy,  and  passed  fifteen 
months  at  Norfolk;  but  I  didn't  like  it. 
Returning  to  Baltimore,  I  attended  school 


A  Host  of  Memories.  11 

for  a  time.  Then  I  came  to  Philadelphia, 
and  entered  a  book-store  kept  by  Mr. 
Thomson  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Arch 
Streets.  I  was  both  clerk  and  errand-boy, 
worked  from  early  in  the  morning  until  late 
at  night,  and  received  a  salary  of  three 
dollars  a  week.  Gradually  I  began  to  at- 
tend the  evening  auctions,  which  at  that 
time  were  frequently  held  in  this  city;  I 
became  familiar  with  the  titles  and  prices 
of  valuable  books,  and  was  soon  able  to  buy 
them  cheaply.  In  this  way  I  assisted  Mr. 
Thomson  for  four  years ;  his  business  kept 
increasinoc ;  and  at  leno-th  he  sent  me  to 
represent  him  at  the  book-trade  sales  held 
every  six  months  in  [tTew  York  and  Boston. 
Here,  of  course,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
many  book-buyers  and  publishers, — excel- 
lent men,  whom  I  have  never  forgotten,  and 
who,  I  am  sflad  to  sav,  have  not  foro'otten 
me.  Those  still  living  often  visit  me,  and 
whenever  thev  do  the  old  life  and  the  old 
faces  are  very  vivid  in  my  memory, — the 
Harpers,  Lippincotts,  Putnams,  Ticknors, 
Fields,  Appletons,  Little  &  Browns. 

I  had  saved  enough  money  when  about 
ei«:hteen  vears  old  to  2:0  into  business  for 
myself;  so  I  set  up  a  modest  store  in  a 
small  room  in  the  old  Public  Ledger  build- 


1 2  Recollections. 

mg.  It  was  a  success :  I  made  money 
slowl}'  but  surely.  Meanwhile,  it  is  said  of 
me  that  I  aspired  to  higher  things;  that  I 
Avas  even  heard  to  say,  "  I  shall  yet  be  the 
owner  of  the  Public  Ledger.'^  If  this  is  true, 
and  doubtless  it  is,  I  do  not  seem  to  have 
overreached  myself  at  that  early  age. 

I  was  twenty-one  years  old  when  I  entered 
into  the  book-publishing  business  under  the 
firm  name  of  R.  E.  Peterson  &  Co.,  after- 
wards Childs  &  Peterson.  One  of  our  first 
books,  Dr.  Kane's  "  Arctic  Explorations," 
was  a  2:reat  hit.  It  did  not  look  at  first  as 
thousfh  we  had  made  a  wise  venture.  When 
the  work  was  ready  to  be  issued,  I  took  a 
sample  copy  and  went  over  to  l^ew  York  to 
solicit  orders  from  the  leading  booksellers. 
The  largest  house  would  only  give  me  a 
small  order.  "  Mr.  Childs,"  they  said,  "  you 
won't  sell  more  than  a  thousand  altogether." 
They  ordered  at  first  only  one  hundred 
copies,  but  soon  after  sent  for  five  thousand 
more  to  meet  the  demand.  Within  one 
year  after  the  publication  w^e  paid  Dr.  Kane 
a  copyright  of  nearly  seventy  thousand 
dollars.  It  was  the  Doctor's  original  inten- 
tion to  write  only  a  scientific  account  of  the 
expedition  in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin, 
bat  I  persuaded  him  to  make  of  it  the  popu- 


A  Host  of  Memories.  13 

lar  narrative  he  did,  and  he  afterwards  ad- 
mitted to  me  that  I  was  right  in  my  sugges- 
tion. When  the  manuscript  was  finished 
he  sent  me  a  pathetic  note,  in  which  he  said, 
"  Here  you  have  the  book  complete,  and, 
poor  as  it  is,  it  has  been  my  coffin."  I^o 
doubt  he  had  then  some  premonition  of  the 
beginning  of  the  end  of  his  remarkable 
career.  He  died  in  Cuba  within  a  year 
after  receiving  his  copyright  money ;  and 
doubtless  man}^  people  remember  well  the 
splendid  tribute  arranged  for  him :  that 
funeral  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in 
history. 

We  made  another  hit  with  Parson  Brown- 
low's  book,  of  which  fifty  thousand  copies 
were  ordered  in  advance  of  publication. 
Other  successful  works  issued  by  us  were 
'^  Peterson's  Familiar  Science,"  of  which  a 
quarter  of  a  million  copies  have  been  sold ; 
Bouvier's  Law  Dictionary;  Sharswood's 
Blackstone;  and  Dr.  Allibone's  great  "  Dic- 
tionary of  British  and  American  Authors." 
It  cost  over  sixty  thousand  dollars  to  publish 
this  last-named  important  book  in  its  three 
large  volumes,  and  a  great  deal  of  the  credit 
for  the  successful  completion  of  the  under- 
taking is  due  to  the  enterprise  of  the  late 
'J  J.  B.  Lippincott,  who  brought  out  the  last 

2 


1 4  Recollections. 

two  volumes  upon  my  retirement  from  the 
book-publishing  business  in  1863. 

The  following  year  I  purchased  the  Public 
Ledger.  And  I  want  to  say  just  here  that 
much  of  the  success  of  the  paper  has  been 
due  to  the  cordial  and  intelligent  co-opera- 
tion of  my  friend,  A.  J.  Drexel. 

The  war,  by  greatly  increasing  the  cost 
of  labor  and  material,  chiefly  the  white 
paper,  had  made  it  impossible  to  continue, 
save  at  a  loss,  the  publication  of  the  Ledger 
as  a  penny  paper.  It  had  been  sold  at  a 
cent  ever  since  it  was  started  in  1836,  and 
Messrs.  Swain  &  Abell,  then  the  proprietors, 
though  they  had  lost  over  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  by  kee23ing  the  rate  at  "  six 
and  a  quarter  cents  per  week,''  were  averse 
to  a  change.  There  they  made  their  great 
mistake.  They  seemed  to  regard  the  past 
prosperity  of  the  Ledger  as  due  alone  to  its 
selling  for  a  penny.  They  forgot  that  in 
1864  the  purchasing  power  of  a  penny  was 
not  what  it  was  before  the  war.  Cheapness, 
indeed,  was  a  vital- feature  of  the  journal; 
but  to  sell  the  Public  Ledger  for  a  penny  was 
to  give  it  half  away.  Thus  the  proprietors, 
unable  to  agree  to  increase  the  price  of  the 
paper  or  the  rates  of  advertising,  determined 
to   dispose  of  their  property.     The  Ledger 


A  Host  of  Memories.  15 

was  for  sale,  and  I  bouo-lit  it — the  whole  of 
it,  just  as  it  was — for  a  sum  slightly  in  ex- 
cess of  the  amount  of  its  annual  loss. 

It  was  not  generally  known,  of  course, 
that  the  establishment  was  then  losing  about 
four  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  upon  every 
number  of  tlie  paper  which  it  issued.  To 
all  appearances  it  was  as  prosperous  as  ever; 
the  circulation  was  great,  the  columns  were 
crowded  with  advertisements.  Yet,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  was  a  weekly  loss  of 
three  thousand  dollars,  or  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

The  Ledger  was  purchased  on  the  3d  of 
December,  1864.  A  week  later  I  announced 
two  simple  but  radical  changes.  I  doubled 
the  price  of  the  paper  and  advanced  the 
advertising  rates  to  a  profitable  figure.  Of 
course  there  was  an  instant  and  not  incon- 
siderable falling  oft'  of  patronage.  But  the 
Ledger  was  already  an  ''  institution"  of  the 
city  :  for  twenty  years  it  had  been  the  estab- 
lished medium  of  communication  between 
employers  and  employed,  between  buyers 
and  sellers,  landlords  and  tenants,  bereaved 
families  and  their  friends.  To  very  many 
people  it  was  a  necessity.  So,  although  at 
first  I  lost  some  subscribers  and  advertisers, 
they  were  soon  won   back  again.     At  the 


1 6  Recollections, 

end  of  a  month  the  price  of  the  Ledger  was 
reduced  from  twelv^e  to  ten  cents  a  week, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  the  circulation  and 
advertising  have  increased. 

I  worked  hard  to  make  the  paper  a  suc- 
cess ;  for  several  years  I  seldom  left  the  ed- 
itorial rooms  hefore  midnight,  averaging 
from  twelve  to  fourteen  hours  a  day  at  the 
office.  I  strove  to  elevate  its  tone,  and  think 
I  succeeded.  If  asked  w^hat  I  mean  by  this, 
perhaps  I  had  better  quote  the  friendly 
words  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Prime :  "  Mr. 
Childs  excluded  from  the  paper  all  details 
of  disgusting  crime ;  all  reports  of  such  vice 
as  may  not  be  with  propriety  read  aloud  in 
the  family;  that  poison  the  minds  of  young 
men,  inflame  the  passions  and  corrupt  the 
heart;  all  scandal  and  slang,  and  that  whole 
class  of  news  which  constitutes  the  staple 
of  many  daily  papers.  The  same  rule  was 
applied  to  the  advertising  columns,  and 
from  them  was  excluded  all  that,  in  any 
shape  or  form,  might  be  offensive  to  good 
morals.  The  friends  of  the  new  publisher 
predicted  an  early  and  total  failure,  and  the 
more  speedy  because  he  doubled  the  price 
of  the  paper  and  increased  the  rates  of 
advertising.  But  he  was  governed  in  his 
course  by  two  considerations :  first,  he  had 


A  Host  of  Memories,  17 

his  own  strong  convictions  of  what  is  right, 
and,  secondly,  as  strons;  convictions  of  what 
would  pay;  and  it  has  heen  well  said  that 
when  one's  views  of  dutv  coincide  with  his 
pecuniary  interests,  all  the  faculties  work 
in  perfect  harmony.  The  effect  of  this  sud- 
den chancre  was  at  first  to  sink  the  sinkinoj 
concern  still  lower.  A  class  of  readers  and 
advertisers  fell  off".  A  less  conscientious 
and  a  less  couras^eous  man  would  have  stas:- 
gered  in  the  path  he  had  marked  out.  Kot 
so  with  Mr.  Childs.  He  employed  the  best 
talent,  and  paid  fair  wages  for  good  work. 
He  published  six  days  in  the  week  only,  and 
on  the  seventh  day  he  rested  from  his  labors. 
His  paper  and  his  principles  began  to  obtain 
recognition  in  the  city.  He  made  it  a  family 
journal.  It  gained  the  confidence  of  the 
best  people,  who  became  its  daily  readers, 
and  therefore  it  was  sought  as  the  best 
medium  of  advertising."  It  is  not  for  me 
to  add  to  or  comment  upon  these  compli- 
mentary w^ords.  On  the  20th  of  June,  1867, 
the  present  Ledger  building  was  completed 
and  formally  opened.  The  ceremonies  were 
followed  by  a  banquet  attended  by  mauy 
distinguished  men  from  different  parts  of 
the  country. 

I  look  back  with  genuine  pleasure  upon 

b  2* 


18  Recollections. 

my  experiences  as  a  publisher.  I  was  more 
than  prosperous  in  acquiring  the  friendsliip 
of  so  many  worthy  men  among  the  pub- 
lishers, booksellers,  and  authors  with  whom 
I  came  in  contact.  If  I  were  to  enumerate 
them,  their  names  would  fill  a  page  of  Lip- 
2nncotCs  Magazine. 

I  can  recall,  as  though  it  were  yesterday, 
a  solemn  conversation  in  the  office  of  the 
Harpers,  then  on  Cliff  Street.  The  four 
founders  of  the  great  firm  were  present. 
I  was  one  of  a  group  of  Philadelphians, 
and  we  were  discussino^  the  first  number  of 
Harpers  New  ^lonthly  3Iagazine.  It  seemed 
so  certain  to  us  that  the  publication  would 
be  a  failure.  "  It  can't,"  said  one  Phila- 
delphian,  emphatically, — "  it  can't  last  very 
long."  The  only  successful  magazines  then 
published  in  the  United  States  were  those 
issued  in  Philadelphia, — Graham'' Sj  Godei/s^ 
SartairCs,  and  Feier son's. 

I  have  personally  known  and  corresponded 
with  Longfellow,  Emerson,  Lowell,  Holmes, 
Whittier,  John  Lothrop  Motley,  William 
CuUen  Bryant,  George  Bancroft,  W.  H. 
Prescott,  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  !N"athaniel 
Hawthorne,  Washington  Irving,  and  a  score 
of  other  writers  who  have  given  us  an  Amer- 
ican literature. 


A  Host  of  3Iemorics.  19 

Washino'ton  Irvino^  I  remember  well.  His 
TTcXs  not  a  face  one  readily  forgot.  A  kindly 
humorous  man,  of  big  brain  and  heart.  I 
visited  him  several  times  at  "  Sunnyside :" 
he  would  go  to  sleep  at  dinner,  but  his 
guests  understood  his  physical  weakness  and 
respected  it.  He  was  a  very  sensitive  and 
nervous  man.  I  saw  his  desk  piled  up  with 
papers,  the  last  time  I  was  there,  and  re- 
marked that  he  seemed  to  have  a  heavy  mail. 
It  was  shortly  after  the  publication  of  the 
first  volume  of  his  Life  of  Washino^ton. 
"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  I  haven't  the  courage  to 
look  at  it.  I'm  afraid  to  learn  what  the 
critics  are  saying  of  my  book." 

Hawthorne  was  another  sensitive  man 
and  extremely  shy.  The  last  time  we  met 
was  under  very  distressing  circumstances. 
He  was  travelling  South  for  the  benefit  of 
his  health,  accompanied  by  his  friend  W.  D. 
Ticknor,  the  publisher.  They  stopped  at 
the  Continental  Hotel  in  Philadelphia,  and 
both  came  down  to  the  Ledger  office  to  call 
on  me.  They  were  in  excellent  spirits ;  and 
that  was  on  Frida3\  It  was  agreed  that  they 
should  attend  a  party  to  be  given  the  next 
evening  b}^  Mr.  Joseph  Harrison.  These 
Saturday  evening  parties  were  then  a  feature 
of    social    life    in    Philadelphia.      Neither 


20  Ilecolledions. 

Ticknor  nor  Hawthorne  came,  greatly  to 
our  disappointment.  As  no  explanation  of 
their  absence  was  sent  me,  I  called  on  Sun- 
da}^  morning  at  the  hotel  and  went  directly 
to  their  rooms.  I  knocked  on  the  door,  and 
receiving  no  answer,  opened  it  and  walked 
in.  There  I  found  Hawthorne  pacing  up 
and  down  the  room,  apparently  dazed. 

"  Hawthorne,"  I  said,  "  how  are  you  ? 
Where  is  Ticknor?" 

"  They  have  taken  him  away,"  said  he. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?"  I  asked.  "  I  don't 
understand  you." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  it  is  too  had.  He  was 
my  best  friend  ;  I  depended  on  him ;  and  he 
came  here  to  please  me." 

I  could  make  nothing  out  of  it  at  all :  he 
seemed  to  me  bewildered.  I  feared  for  his 
mind,  and,  going  down  to  the  office,  asked 
the  clerk,  Mr.  Duffy,  what  it  all  meant.  He 
then  staggered  me  with  the  information  that 
Ticknor  had  died  that  mornins:. 

''  Where  is  his  body  ?"  I  asked. 

"  It  was  taken  early  this  morning  to  the 
undertaker's,"  he  said. 

I  was  astounded,  but,  hastening  back  to 
Hawthorne,  comforted  him  as  much  as  I 
could,  implored  him  to  keep  quiet,  and  at 
last  succeeded  somewhat  in   calming  him. 


A  Host  of  Memories,  2 1 

I  then  went  to  the  undertaker's,  took  charge 
of  Ticknor's  body,  saw  that  it  was  properly 
cared  for  and  embalmed,  and  telegraphed 
to  his  partner,  my  old  friend  James  T. 
Fields.  One  of  Ticknor's  sons  at  once  came 
on  to  Philadelphia  and  took  his  father's 
remains  to  Boston. 

It  was  a  deplorable  and  distressing  event ; 
a  fatal  journey.  Hawthorne  lingered  here 
in  Philadelphia  with  me  for  a  few  days,  and 
then  I  placed  him  in  the  keeping  of  the 
good  Bishop  Howe,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  com- 
mon friend,  who  accompanied  him  to  Boston. 
There  he  passed  the  night  with  James  T. 
Fields,  who  says  that  they  sat  up  late  talking 
about  Ticknor,  and  that  Hawthorne  was  in 
a  very  excited  and  nervous  state,  recalling 
incessantly  the  sad  scenes  he  had  been  pass- 
ing through  in  Philadelphia.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  returned  to  his  old  home  in  Concord, 
and  shortly  after  he  died  at  Plymouth,  New 
Hampshire,  whither  he  had  gone  under  the 
charge  of  his  life-long  friend,  Ex-President 
Franklin  Pierce. 

I  have  still  in  my  possession  the  touching 
letter  written  by  President  Pierce  to  Mr. 
Fields  in  which  he  describes  the  peaceful 
death  of  Hawthorne.  It  was  plainly  penned 
under  the  greatest  excitement  and  distress 


22  Recolledions. 

of  mind.  It  contained  a  note  announcinsf 
to  Mrs.  Hawthorne  her  bereavement,  and 
was  carried  to  Mr.  Fields  by  Colonel  Hib- 
bard.  "  Oh,  how  will  she  bear  this  shock?" 
the  note  says.  "  Dear  mother  !  dear  chil- 
dren !  When  I  met  Hawthorne  at  Boston  a 
week  ago,  it  was  apparent  that  he  was  much 
more  feeble  and  more  seriously  diseased  than 
I  had  supposed  him  to  be.  We  came  from 
Senter  Harbor  yesterday  afternoon,  and  I 
thought  he  was,  on  the  whole,  brighter  than 
he  was  the  day  before.  He  retired  last 
night  soon  after  nine  o'clock,  and  soon  fell 
into  a  quiet  slumber.  In  less  than  half  an 
hour  he  changed  his  position,  but  continued 
to  sleep.  I  left  the  door  open  between  his 
bedroom  and  mine,  our  beds  being  opposite 
to  each  other.  I  was  asleep  myself  before 
eleven  o'clock.  The  light  continued  to  burn 
in  my  room.  At  two  o'clock  I  went  to  H.'s 
bedside.  He  was  apparently  in  a  sou;id 
sleep.  I  did  not  place  my  hand  upon  him. 
At  four  o'clock  I  went  into  his  room  again, 
and,  as  his  position  was  unchanged,  I  placed 
my  hand  upon  him,  and  found  that  life  was 
extinct.  I  sent  immediately  for  a  physician, 
and  called  Judge  Bell  and  Colonel  Hibbard, 
who  occupied  rooms  upon  the  same  floor 
and  near  me.     He  lies   upon  his  side,  his 


A  Host  of  Memories.  23 

position  so  perfectly  natural  and  easy,  his 
eyes  closed,  that  it  is  difficult  to  realize, 
while  looking  upon  his  noble  face,  that  this 
is  death.  He  must  have  passed  from  natural 
slumber  to  that  from  which  there  is  no  wak- 
ing, without  the  slighest  movement.  I  can- 
not write  to  dear  Mrs.  Hawthorne,  and  you 
must  exercise  your  judgment  with  regard  to 
sending  this  and  the  unfinished  note  enclosed 
to  her." 

It  was  a  beautiful  death,  but  a  sad  event. 
Hawthorne  I  shall  always  hold  vividly  in 
remembrance.  I  have  the  oris^inal  manu- 
script  of  his  "  Consular  Experiences,"  and 
the  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  the  "  Scarlet 
Letter,"  brought  to  light  so  wonderfully  by 
Mr.  Fields.  Hawthorne  wrote  me,  soon 
after  its  publication  in  1851,  that  he  was 
much  gratified  by  my  favorable  opinion  of 
the  charming  romance,  and  that  I  might 
be  interested  to  know  "  that  it  was  so  far 
founded  on  fact  that  such  a  symbol  as  the 
Scarlet  Letter  was  actually  worn  by  at  least 
one  woman  in  the  early  times  of  i!Tew  Eng- 
land." Whether  this  personage,  he  added, 
resembled  Hester  Prynne  in  any  other 
circumstances  of  her  character,  he  could 
not  say ;  nor  whether  this  mode  of  igno- 
minious punishment  was  brought  from  be- 


24  RecoUedioiis. 

yond  the  Atlantic  or  originated  with  the 
'New  Ens^hand  Puritans.  At  anv  rate,  he 
said,  the  idea  was  so  worthy  of  them  that 
he  felt  "  piously  inclined"  to  allow  them  all 
the  credit  of  it. 

Longfellow  I  knew  well  and  entertained 
at  my  home.  He  was  a  quiet,  gentle,  ad- 
mirable man  ;  a  poet  in  all  his  moods.  We 
often  corresponded,  and  I  remember  how 
glad  he  was  when  he  heard  that  I  had  bought 
an  estate  near  the  historic  church  of  St. 
David's,  Radnor,  the  resting-place  of  General 
Anthony  Wayne,  celebrated  by  Longfellow 
in  exquisite  verse.  "  The  Eadnor  Church 
poem,'*'  he  wrote  me  from  l^ahant  in  1880, 
"  shall  be  copied  for  you  when  I  return  home 
in  August  or  September.  Here  by  the  sea- 
side I  have  no  paper  tit  for  the  purpose. 
You  shall  have  it  all  in  due  time  for  the 
honor  to  be  conferred  on  it.  I  cons^ratulate 
you  on  having  a  country-place  in  the  beau- 
tiful region  round  Eadnor.  I  am  sure  you 
will  all  enjoy  it  extremeh\" 

I  prize  very  much  the  tender  note  he  sent 
me,  March  13, 1877,  aiJropos  of  his  seventieth 
birthday.  "  You  do  not  know  yet,"  it  reads, 
"  what  it  is  to  be  seventy  years  old.  I  will 
tell  you,  so  that  you  may  not  be  taken  by 
surprise  when  your  turn  comes.     It  is  like 


A  Host  of  3Iemories.  25 

climbing  the  Alps.  You  reach  a  snow- 
crowned  summit,  and  see  behind  you  the 
deep  valley  stretching  miles  and  miles  away, 
and  before  you  other  summits  higher  and 
whiter,  which  you  may  have  strength  to 
climb,  or  may  not.  Then  you  sit  down  and 
meditate,  and  w^onder  which  it  will  be.  That 
is  the  whole  story,  amplify  it  as  you  may. 
All  that  one  can  say  is,  that  life  is  oppor- 
tunity.^' How  very  true  this  is  I  know  full 
well.  My  experience  enables  me  to  perceive 
the  wisdom  of  the  poet's  words. 

There  is  a  curious  incident  in  my  ac- 
quaintance with  James  Russell  Lowell.  It 
happened  lately  that  he  was  in  Philadel- 
phia while  I  was  confined  to  the  house  with 
a  slight  attack  of  sickness,  and  he  came 
promptly  and  kindly  to  call  upon  me  and 
pass  the  afternoon.  One  of  the  treasures 
of  my  library  is  the  manuscript  of  Lowell's 
poem  ''  Under  the  Willows,"  which,  accord- 
ing to  a  marginal  note,  was  begun  in  1850 
and  finished  in  1868.  We  spent  a  quiet, 
pleasant  afternoon  together,  and  he  seemed 
to  be  much  interested  in  my  collection  of 
original  manuscripts,  which  includes  "  Our 
Mutual  Friend,"  by  Dickens,  Poe's  "  Mur- 
ders in  the  Kue  Morgue,"  and  many  other 
precious  writings.     Finally  I  surprised  him 

B  3 


2G  Recolledioiis. 

with  a  glimpse  of  his  own  poem.  lie  had 
half  forgotten  it,  and  at  my  request  took  the 
volume  away  with  him,  returning  it  in  a  few 
days  with  the  following  explanatory  note : 
"A  part  of  this  poem  (as  the  note  on  the 
margin  opposite  says)  was  written  in  1850  as 
an  introduction  to  the  '  Nooning,'  a  projected 
volume  of  tales  in  verse.  By  changes  and 
additions  I  tried  to  make  a  self-suhsident 
poem  out  of  material  already  prepared  for 
another  purpose.  Old  and  new  are  so  inter- 
woven that  I  cannot  now,  after  an  interval 
of  twenty  years,  distinguish  between  them." 
About  twenty-five  years  ago,  on  a  wretched, 
rainy,  sloppy,  and  muddy  day,  I  was  in  a 
book-store  in  Boston,  when  I  saw  the  striking 
figure  of  a  little  man,  wearing  a  slouched 
hat,  his  pantaloons  rolled  up,  dashing  along 
the  street.  He  looked  as  little  like  a  poet 
as  a  man  could.  I  turned  to  the  bookseller 
and  asked  him  who  that  was.  "  That  is 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,"  he  said.  "  Well, 
I  want  to  know  that  man;"  and  I  got  to 
know  him,  and  we  have  been  the  best  of 
friends  ever  since.  A  more  genial,  genuine, 
delightful  man,  and  a  finer  conversationalist, 
I  never  knew.  A  copy  of  "  The  Autocrat 
of  the  Breakfast-Table,"  which  he  sent  me, 
contains  an  interesting  letter  giving  me  his 


A  Host  of  Memories.  27 

reasons  for  beginning  the  papers  in  the  At- 
lantic Monthly  J  a  name  which  he  says  he  gave 
to  the  masrazine. 

As  I  speak,  a  thousand  faces  pass  before 
me.  Xone  more  gentle  and  kind  than  that 
of  Emerson.  He  visited  me  with  his  daugh- 
ter ;  a  tranquil,  lovable  man;  and  he  wrote 
me  letters.  It  is  a  pity,  by  the  way,  that  I 
failed  to  preserve  my  correspondence;  much 
of  it,  doubtless,  would  be  now  of  consider- 
able interest. 

John  Lothrop  Motley,  W.  H.  Prescott, 
and  Georo^e  Bancroft  were  valued  friends. 
I  remember  Motley  writing  me  that  he 
thought  no  history  of  our  great  civil  war 
should  be  written  within  fifty  years  of  its 
close.  Prescott  had  the  last  photograph  of 
himself  taken  for  me.  He  wrote  to  tell  me 
so,  and  said,  "  I  shall  never  sit  again  for 
another  picture,  unless  it  is  taken  from  the 
back  of  my  head."  Bancroft  I  am  still 
enabled  to  honor  as  one  of  mv  oldest  and 
most  precious  friends. 

With  the  novelist  G.  P.  P.  James  I  was 
quite  intimate.  While  he  held  the  post  of 
British  Consul  at  liichmond,  Virginia,  he 
would  often  come  up  to  Philadelphia  to  see 
me  ;  and  he  told  me  once  that  he  dictated  all 
liis  books.     Then  there  were  T.  Buchanan 


28  Recollections. 

Read,  who  painted  LongfelloAv's  portrait  for 
me,  and  who  was  present  at  the  dinner  I 
gave  Longfellow  in  Rome,  W.  W.  Story, 
Fitz-Greene  Ilalleck,  Jared  Sparks,  William 
Gilmore  Simms,  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
Professors  E.  A.  Freeman  and  Bryce,  of 
Oxford,  Henry  C.  Care}^  Paul  B.  Dii  Chaillu 
(he  brought  me  from  Africa  the  wood  for 
the  ebony  table  now  in  ray  library),  Thomas 
Hughes,  Joaquin  Miller,  Wilkie  Collins, — 
a  whole  troop  of  them,  my  honored  friends 
and  guests.  Above  all,  I  should  not  forget 
to  note  one  of  my  earliest  and  most  intimate 
friends,  the  elder  James  Gordon  Bennett. 
He  was  a  quiet,  unobtrusive,  forcible  man. 
For  years,  he  told  me,  he  had  his  office  a 
few  doors  from  the  Brooks's, — Erastus  and 
James,  of  the  Evening  JSxjyress, — and  yet  had 
never  met  them.  We  often  talked  together 
in  reflective  moods.  He  was  eminently 
practical.  "  Childs,"  he  once  said,  "  how  un- 
fortunate it  is  for  a  boy  to  have  rich  parents  ! 
If  you  and  I  had  been  born  that  way,  per- 
haps we  wouldn't  have  amounted  to  much." 
I  might,  indeed,  go  on  recalling  names 
until  you  wearied  of  hearing  me.  It  has 
been  my  good  fortune  to  possess  the  friend- 
ship or  acquaintance  of  a  very  large  number 
of  the  men  and  women  who   have  distin- 


A  Host  of  Memories.  29 

giiisbed  themselves  iu  the  politics,  science, 
arts,  literature,  and  commerce  of  this  coun- 
tr}^  and  Europe  during  the  last  thirty  years. 
There  was  Edward  Everett,  for  instance, 
who  used  to  spend  much  of  his  time  in 
this  city,  the  guest  of  his  friend  Charles 
Macalester.  I  have  a  notable  letter  from 
him,  written  under  date  of  Boston,  July  9, 
1862,  in  which  he  remarks,  "  I  ought  to  say 
that,  though  I  think  the  arrest  of  Mason 
and  Slidell  was  authorized  by  the  Law  of 
JS'ations,  I  think  it  was  expedient  to  give 
them  up.  I  therefore  approved  of  their  sur- 
render by  Mr.  Seward,  and  rejoiced  that  he 
was  able  to  find  grounds  for  it,  though  not 
concurring  with  him  in  all  his  views." 

I  have  been  on  friendly  terms  with  men 
of  all  parties  and  creeds.  I  accompanied 
Thomas  H.  Benton  to  Boston  when  he 
delivered  his  f^^reat  oration  there.  Setting; 
aside  General  Winfield  Scott  (who  sent  me 
an  early  copy  of  his  book,  of  which  he  had 
estimated  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
people  in  the  United  States  who  would  pur- 
chase copies),  Benton  was  beyond  com2:)arison 
the  most  kindly  and  agreeably  egotistical 
man  I  ever  met. 

Thurlow  Weed,  an  extraordinary  man  in 

many  ways,  I   knew  very  well.     lie  once 

3* 


30  Rccolledioiis. 

gave  mc  an  illustration  of  the  great  variety 
and  curious  character  of  his  wonderful  stock 
of  information.  He  told  me  that  there  was 
an  old  Roman  well  on  such  and  such  a  spot 
on  the  Strand  in  London.  I  went  to  John 
Murray  while  in  London  and  asked  him 
ahout  it,  as  Murray's  guide-hook  made  no 
mention  of  the  fact.  Murray  was  in  utter 
ignorance  of  the  well,  hut  it  was  really  where 
Thurlow  Weed  had  said  it  was. 

It  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  recall  the  myriad 
faces  of  my  guests  during  many  years,  here 
in  Philadelphia,  at  Wootton,  and  at  Long 
Branch.  Besides  those  I  have  mentioned, 
there  was  the  great  and  good  George  Pea- 
hody.  We  were  very  close  to  each  other. 
He  had  his  portrait  painted  for  me  hy  the 
Queen's  artist,  and  there  it  hangs  on  the 
wall,  one  of  the  most  valued  of  my  pos- 
sessions. His  name  recalls  that  of  Peter 
Cooper.  These  two  were  considerate  and 
broad-minded  philanthropists.  I  went  with 
Mr.  Cooper  on  his  ninetieth  birthday  to  Bal- 
timore during  the  sesqui-centennial  celebra- 
tion. He  there  told  me  an  interesting  story 
of  his  early  life  in  that  city  when  he  had  be- 
come manager  of  the  iron-works  at  Canton. 
The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Eailroad  Company 
had  built  their  road  beyond  Point  of  Bocks, 


A  Hod  of  Memories.  31 

bat  no  engine  could  get  round  the  curve. 
Cooper  then,  with  fifty  gentlemen,  eni- 
bracini]:  the  directors  and  others  interested 
in  the  road,  improvised  an  engine  built  of 
o;uu-barrels,  and  successful! v  rounded  the 
curve.  When  we  were  in  Baltimore  to- 
gether, only  one  man,  J.  H.  B.  Latrobe,  be- 
sides himself,  was  left  of  the  original  fifty. 

[It  is  a  brave  array  of  names,  the  guests  of  Mr. 
Childs, — Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  Meade,  Sheridan, 
Hancock,  McDowell,  and  Patterson,  Edmund  Quincy, 
Chief  Justice  Waite,  A.  J.  Drexel,  Asa  Packer,  the 
Astors,  Cadwaladers,  Prof.  Joseph  Henry,  Hamilton 
Fish,  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Charles  Francis  Adams, 
Presidents  Hayes,  Arthur,  and  Cleveland,  Chauncey 
M.  Depew,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Thomas  A.  Edison, 
Simon  Cameron,  Henry  Wilson,  William  M.  Evarts, 
James  G.  Blaine,  John  Welsh,  J.  B.  Lippincott, Morton 
McMichael,  August  Belmont,  Alex.  H.  Stephens,  Sam- 
uel J.  Tilden  (one  of  his  last  requests  was  to  have  Mr. 
Childs  visit  him  at  Greystone),  Cyrus  W.  Field,  B.  J. 
Lossing,  Mrs.  Grover  Cleveland,  Charlotte  Cushman, 
Christine  Nilsson,  Harriet  Hosmer,  John  Bigelow, 
Thomas  A.  Bayard,  Parke  Godwin,  Andrew  Carne- 
gie, and  many  others.  Mr.  Childs  does  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  one  of  the  chief  pleasures  of  his  life  has 
been  the  keeping  of  an  open  house  to  worthy  and 
distinguished  people.  The  reception  he  gave  to  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  of  Brazil  w^as  perhaps  the  most 
notable  gathering  of  people  ever  assembled  in  any 
private  house  in  America.  There  were  over  six  hun- 
dred guests ;  and  Mr.  Childs's  was  the  first  private 
house  at  which  the  Emperor  and  Empress  had  ever 


32  Recollections, 

been  entertained.  But  one  must  not  overlook  in  this 
incomplete  list  of  visitors  the  names  of  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Buckingham,  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  Lords  Duffcrin,  Rosebery,  Hough- 
ton, Ilchester,  Ross,  Iddesleigh,  Rayleigh,  Herschell, 
Caithness,  and  Dunraven,  Sir  Stafford  Northcote, 
Lady  Franklin,  Dean  Stanley,  Canon  Kingsley, 
Charles  Dickens,  George  Augustus  Sala,  Joseph 
Chamberlain,  M.P.,  J.  Anthony  Froude,  Prof.  Tyn- 
dall,  Prof.  Bonamy  Price,  Admiral  Lord  Clarence 
Paget,  Sir  Philip  Cunliffe  Owen,  Colonel  Sir  Herbert 
Sandford,  Charles  Kean,  Marquis  de  Rochambeau,  John 
AV alter,  M.P.,  Sir  Richard  Temple,  Herbert  Spencer 
(who  was  sadly  afflicted  with  insomnia  while  visiting 
Mr.  Childs),  Thomas  Hughes,  M.P.,  Sir  John  Rose, 
Sir  Edward  Thornton,  and  Robert  Chambers,  D.C.L. 
There  are  countless  souvenirs  of  these  and  other 
guests  in  Mr.  Childs's  home, — a  photograph  of  the 
Emperor  of  Brazil,  with  his  autograph,  painted  por- 
traits, a  chair  embroidered  by  the  Duchess  of  Buck- 
ingham for  Mrs.  Childs.  The  library  is  full  of  pre- 
sentation copies  of  books  from  many  authors ;  some  of 
them  have  dedicated  volumes  to  him.  But  no  doubt 
the  most  interesting  souvenir  is  Mrs.  Childs's  album  ; 
it  contains  the  signatures  and  sentiments  of  a  host  of 
distinguished  men  and  women  in  all  professions  who 
have  been  her  guests.  Thomas  Nast,  for  example, 
sketches  himself  in  it ;  Oscar  Wilde,  Bishop  Doane, 
George  Bancroft,  Goldwin  Smith,  Walt  Whitman, 
Lord  Houghton,  and  Lord  Dufferin  contribute  poems ; 
and  Charlotte  Cushman,  Modjeska,  and  Henry  Irving 
each  an  appropriate  Shakspearian  sentiment.  Dean 
Stanley,  Matthew  Arnold,  Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  Bishop 
Potter,  and  Archdeacon  Farrar  write  sentiments 
appreciative  of  their  hospitable  entertainment.] 


CHAPTER  11. 

A    TRIP   ABROAD. 

Dickens — The  Duke  of  Buckingham — Lady  Franklin — ■ 
Lono-fellow — Dom  Pedro. 

Late    in    the   autumn    of    1868    I   went 

abroad,  and   one    of    the   first   letters   that 

reached    me    at    the    Langham    Hotel    in 

Regent   Street,  London,    bore,   under   date 

of   [November   4,    a   genial    greeting    from 

Charles  Dickens.    "  Welcome  to  England  !" 

it  said.     "  Dolby  will  have  told  you  that  I 

am   reading    again,  —  on    a   very   fatiguing 

scale, — but  that  after  the  end  of  next  week 

I  shall  be  free  for  a  fortnight  as  to  country 

readings.     On   ^londay  next  I  shall  be  in 

town,   and  shall  come  straight  to  pay  my 

respects  to  Mrs.   Childs  and  you.      In  the 

mean  time,  will  you,  if  you  can,  so  arrange 

your  engagements  as  to  give  me  a  day  or 

two  here  in  the  latter  half  of  this  month  ? 

My  housekeeper-daughter  is  away  hunting 

in    Hampshire,  but   my  sister-in-law  is  al- 
c  33 


34  liccolledions. 

ways  in  charge,  and  my  married  daughter 
would  be  charmed  to  come  from  London  to 
receive  Mrs.  Childs.  You  cannot  be  quieter 
anywhere  than  here,  and  you  certainly  can- 
not have  from  any  one  a  heartier  welcome 
than  from  me."  We  certainly  could  not : 
to  Gad's  Hill  Place  we  went,  and  passed  a 
quiet,  delightful  time.  I  had  corresponded 
with  Dickens  for  a  number  of  years :  in  my 
library  there  is  a  set  of  the  Osgood  edition 
of  his  works  in  fifty-six  volumes,  in  each  of 
which  is  inserted  an  autograph  letter  of  the 
author  to  me,  the  first  being  dated  1855. 
During  this  visit  we  Avere  much  together : 
he  accompanied  us  to  London,  and  when  we 
parted  he  clasped  my  hands  and  said, 
"Good-by;  God  bless  you!"  and  the  tears 
were  in  his  eyes. 

He  told  me  that  before  beginning  anyone 
of  his  works  he  thought  out  the  plot  fully,  and 
then  made  a  skeleton  from  which  he  elab- 
orated it.  The  most  interesting  and  valu- 
able memento  I  have  of  him  is  the  original 
manuscript  of  "  Our  Mutual  Friend."  It  is 
the  only  complete  manuscript  of  any  of 
Dickens's  novels  outside  of  the  South  Ken- 
sington Museum ;  though  one  or  two  of  his 
short  Christmas  stories,  I  believe,  are  to  be 
found  in  this  country  and  in  England.     A 


A  Trip  Abroad.  35 

skeleton  of  the  story  is  prefixed  to  each 
volume,  the  first  covering  sixteen,  the  sec- 
ond eighteen  pages  of  quarto  paper.  These 
skeletons  show  how  Dickens  constructed  his 
stories.  They  are  very  curious.  Here  is  a 
sample  page : 

OUK   MUTUAL  FEIEND,  :N^0.  1. 
CHAPTER  I. 

ox  THE   LOOKOUT. 

The  Man,  in  his  boat,  watcliing  the  tides. 
The  GafFer, — Gaifer — Gaffer  Hexam — • 
Hexam. 
His  daughter  rowing.     Jen,  or  Lizzie. 
Taking  the  body  in  tow. 
His  dissipated  partner,  who 

has  "  Robbed  a  live  man  !" 
Riderhood — this  fellow's  name. 

CHAPTER  IL 

THE   MAX   FROM   SOMEWHERE. 

The  entirely  new  people. 

Everything  new — Grandfather  new — if  they 
had  one. 

Dinner  Party — Twemlow,  Podsnap,  Lady  Tip- 
pins,  Alfred  Lighthouse,  also  Eugene — Mor- 
timer, languid  and  tells  of  Harmon  the  Dust 
Contractor, 


36  Recollections. 

Then  follow  sentences,  written  everywhere 
on  the  page,  like  this :  "  Work  in  the  girl 
\vho  was  to  have  been  married  and  made 
rich,"  etc.  There  is  also  this  outline  head- 
ing : 

FOUK  BOOKS. 

I.  The  Cup  and  the  Lip. 
II.  Birds  of  a  Feather. 

III.  A  Long  Lane. 

IV.  A  Turning. 

The  story  is  written  in  small,  oddly- 
formed  letters,  with  frequent  erasures,  on 
heavj^,  light-blue  paper  in  dark-blue  ink. 
It  is  marked  as  completed  September  2, 
1865,  and  has  a  postscript  in  lieu  of  a  pref- 
ace, under  which  is  given  this  date.  The 
manuscript  is  just  as  it  came  finally  from 
Dickens's  hands,  even  the  names  of  the 
compositors  in  the  printing-ofiice  remaining 
at  the  head  of  each  "  take." 

It  was  through  Dickens  that  I  became 
acquainted  with  Wilkie  Collins,  one  of  the 
most  agreeable  men  I  ever  met,  and  whom 
I  have  since  entertained  in  this  country. 
The  two  families  were  very  intimate,  as  Mr. 
Collins's  brother  had  married  Mr.  Dickens's 
daughter. 

From  Gad's  Hill  Place  we  went  to  Stowe, 


A  Trip  Abroad.  37 

one  of  the  estates  of  the  late  Duke  of  Buck- 
in  o-ham,  the  last  of  the  Plantao-enets.  I  had 
first  met  the  Duke  a  few  years  before,  when, 
as  Marquis  of  Chanclos,  he  came  to  this 
country  in  the  suite  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
and  was  entertained  by  me  while  in  Phila- 
delphia. I  found  him  always  an  unaffected, 
able,  and  agreeable  man.  It  may  be  said  of 
him  that  he  was  the  first  English  nobleman 
who  broke  an  entail  to  pay  his  father's  debts. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  hospitable  of  men. 
I  gave  many  Americans  letters  of  introduc- 
tion to  him,  and  he  entertained  them  royally. 
He  was  a  man  of  much  ability, — an  astute 
politician  and  a  successful  railroad  manager. 
He  knew  the  name  and  the  place  of  every  bolt 
in  an  engine ;  and  it  was  he  who  invented  the 
ingenious  trough  arrangement  by  means  of 
which  engines  in  motion  can  replenish  their 
tanks  with  water.  Stowe  is  a  vast  building, 
some  twelve  hundred  feet  in  length.  One 
of  its  attractions  was  a  unique  chapel,  built 
of  cedar  and  gold,  brought  by  the  Duke's 
ancestors  from  Spain.  He  told  me  that  one 
day  in  Spain  he  was  talking  with  a  priest 
who  described  a  beautiful  little  church  that 
had  once  stood  on  the  spot  where  they  were 
conversing.  The  priest  mourned  its  loss, 
saying   that   it   had   been   actually  plucked 


38  Rc'collcdions. 

from  tlie  soil  and  transported  to  England. 
lie  never  suspected  that  the  l^uke  owned  it. 
StoAve  was  connected  by  the  Dake  with 
his  other  residence  of  Wootton  by  means  of 
a  railroad.  At  this  latter  place,  which  had 
been  in  his  family  over  seven  hundred  years, 
and  after  which  I  named  my  own  country- 
seat  near  Bryn  Mawr,  we  also  passed  some 
pleasant  days.  There  was  a  notable  oak-tree 
there  that  had  been  planted  by  Queen  Eliza- 
beth. While  at  Stowe  we  slept  in  the  same 
rooms  that  had  been  occupied  by  Queen 
Victoria  Avhen  the  Duke  of  Buckingham's 
father  entertained  her  majesty  one  week  at  a 
cost  of  seventv-five  thousand  dollars.  Later 
on,  when  w^e  were  stopping  at  the  Langham 
Hotel,  near  the  Duke's  residence  on  Chandos 
Street,  I  had  an  amusing  adventure.  The 
Duke  had  asked  me  to  visit  his  church,  sit- 
uated in  that  street,  and  one  morning  I 
strolled  there,  and,  entering,  requested  the 
pew^-opener  to  show  me  to  the  ducal  pew. 
"  The  servants'  pew  ?"  he  asked.  When  I 
related  this  experience  to  the  Duke  he 
laughed,  and  said  it  w^as  not  so  amusing 
as  one  of  his  own.  He  had  gone  one  day, 
he  said,  w^hile  chairman  of  the  London  and 
JSTorthwestern  Railw^av,  to  the  office  of  the 
company  and  requested  one  of  the  attend- 


A  Trip  Abroad.  39 

ants  to  show  him  to  the  room  of  a  certain 
official,  the  head  of  a  department.  The 
man  eyed  the  Duke  critically,  and  observed, 
"You  won't  do:  you're  too  light  w^eight." 
It  then  transpired  that  the  official  had  ad- 
vertised for  a  porter,  and  the  attendant 
mistook  the  Duke  for  an  applicant  for  the 
situation. 

The  first  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
was  a  lovely  woman,  a  Miss  Harvey,  and 
their  marriasre  had  been  one  of  love.  Mrs. 
Childs  has  still  an  embroidered  chair  pre- 
sented to  her  by  the  Duchess,  who  had 
worked  it  for  her.  One  of  the  most  inter- 
estino^  mementos  I  have  of  the  Duke  is  a  set 
of  photographs  of  his  governmental  col- 
leagues. They  were  hospitality  itself  to  us. 
One  dav  we  were  asked  whether  we  cared 
to  visit  Fountain  Abbey,  the  picturesque 
property  of  Lord  Ripon  (Earl  de  Grey), 
whom  I  knew  when  he  was  in  this  countrv 
as  one  of  the  High  Joint  Commission,  and, 
availing  ourselves  of  the  invitation,  special 
permission  was  accorded  our  party  to  drive 
in  the  grounds  and  view  the  private  build- 
in  2:s.  We  drove  over  from  Harroscate  in 
carriages,  and  enjoyed  the  jaunt  immensely. 
The  duchess  lingered  outside  the  abbey  for 
a  time,    sketching,  and  when  we   rejoined 


40  Recollections, 

her  she  told  us  that  she  had  overheard  a 
party  of  visitors  discussing  our  entrance  into 
the  private  precinct,  and  one  of  them,  glan- 
cing at  the  carriages,  had  said,  "  Well,  I'll 
wager  they're  Americans  :  those  people  are 
admitted  evervwhere." 

Altogether,  our  stay  in  England  was  very 
delightful,  made  largely  so  by  the  number 
of  interesting  and  agreeable  people  with 
wdiom  we  came  in  contact,  as  at  "  Bear- 
w^ood,"  the  splendid  home  of  Mr.  Walter, 
of  the  London  Times,  where  we  met  Charles 
Kingsley,  Archdeacon  Benson,  now  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  Lord  Houghton,  and 
many  other  distinguished  personages.  As 
miorht  be  imas^ined  from  the  circumstance 
of  my  publication  of  Dr.  Kane's  hook,  I  had 
a  peculiar  pleasure  in  making  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Lady  Franklin.  She  was  afterwards 
my  guest  for  a  week  at  Long  Branch.  She 
was  on  a  journey  round  the  world,  and  she 
came  with  her  niece,  a  man-  and  a  maid- 
servant, her  cooking-utensils,  and  a  whole 
baggage- wagon -full  of  traps.  I  can  dis- 
tinctly recall  her  standing  upon  the  lawn 
and  lookino;  out  over  the  sea.  "  What  is  it 
across  there  ?"  she  asked,  pointing  straight 
ahead.  "  Portugal,"  I  told  her.  "  I've  just 
come  from  there,"  she  said. 


A  Trip  Abroad.  41 

Xot  only  in  England  bat  on  the  Conti- 
nent our  trip  abroad  was  made  very  pleasant 
by  the  acquaintanceship  and  hospitality  of 
many  agreeable  people.  Here  and  there  we 
met  old  friends  and  fellows-countrymen.  In 
Rome,  for  instance,  we  passed  some  delight- 
ful weeks  with  Lono^fellow,  who  had  resided 
there  for  a  lengthy  period  in  earlier  years, 
and  bv  livins:  in  Italian  families  had  be- 
come  very  well  known  and  very  popular. 
lie  was  much  feted.  I  gave  him  a  dinner 
at  which  some  of  the  Roman  dignitaries, 
artists,  and  writers  were  present.  T.  Bu- 
chanan Read,  the  artist-poet,  was  at  that 
time  in  the  Eternal  City,  and  one  of  my 
guests.  At  dinner.  Read's  famous  paint- 
ins:  of  Lono'fellow's  three  daus-hters  was  dis- 
cussed,  and  Lono-fellow  observed  that  the 
picture  was  a  good  one  save  in  one  particu- 
lar ;  Read,  he  said,  had  painted  one  of  his 
children  to  look  as  if  she  had  no  arms.  He 
illustrated  his  criticism  with  a  story,  saying 
that  the  daughter  in  question  and  himself 
had  heard  a  boy  at  a  watering-place  cry- 
ing photographs  for  sale  of  "  Longfellow's 
daughters, — one  without  arms  !" 

As  I  make  no  other  pretension  in  these 
chats  than  idly  to  recall  some  salient  or 
diverting  incidents  in  my  career  or  acquaint- 

4^ 


42  liccollcetions. 

mice  with  notable  meti,  I  may  take  advan- 
tage of  this  second  alhision  to  Longfellow 
to  say  a  word  or  two  about  a  man  of  exalted 
station  and  intellect, — that  modest  ex-mon- 
arch, Doni  Pedro,  late  Emperor  of  Brazil. 
Speaking  of  Longfellow  reminded  me  of 
the  time  when  Dom  Pedro,  gazing  at  the 
portrait  of  Longfellow  which  hangs  in  my 
librar}^  exclaimed,  '^  That  is  your  great 
American  poet.  I  have  translated  his  works 
into  Portuguese,  and  made  known  the 
beauty  of  his  verse  to  all  Brazil." 

This  was  in  1876,  w^hen,  during  the  Cen- 
tennial Exhibition,  the  Emperor  was  my 
guest  and  I  naturally  arranged  for  him  to 
visit  the  various  places  of  interest  in  Phila- 
delphia. At  my  house  I  presented  to  him 
the  late  James  L.  Claghorn,  President  of 
the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  who  invited  him 
to  visit  the  Academy,  and  on  his  expressing 
a  desire  to  go,  inquired  ^vhat  hour  would 
be  most  agreeable  to  his  majest}^  "  Six 
o'clock,"  he  said.  It  was  a  favorite  hour 
with  him ;  but  Mr.  Claghorn,  not  knowing 
this,  was  aghast.  However,  promptly  at  the 
appointed  time  he  had  the  directors  of  the 
Academy  on  hand  to  greet  the  Emperor, 
who  exhibited  an  unfeigned  and  very  intel- 
lio^ent   interest  in   the  art  treasures  of  the 


A  Trip  Abroad.  43 

buildinof.  When  introduced  to  Dr.  Rusch- 
enberger,  President  of  the  Academy  of 
l^atural  Sciences,  he  surprised  the  doctor 
and  those  about  him  by  saying,  *'  I  know 
you  as  an  author;"  and  he  proceeded  to 
name  the  books  the  doctor  had  written,  some 
of  them  being  out  of  print. 

ne  accepted  an  invitation  for  the  next  day 
to  visit  the  coal-regions,  and  set  again  his 
favorite  hour  of  six  o'clock  as  the  time  to 
start.  We  went  in  Judge  Packer's  private 
car,  and  visited  various  coal-mines  and  iron- 
works, the  Emperor's  interest  never  flag- 
ging. He  seemed  to  understand  all  the 
details  of  manufacture,  and  paid  particu- 
lar attention  to  the  Bessemer  and  Siemens 
processes  of  steel-making.  A  curious  inci- 
dent happened  while  we  were  at  the  Thomas 
Iron-Works.  Mr.  Thomas  (who  introduced 
the  process  of  making  iron  with  anthracite 
coal)  came  to  me  and  said  tliat  his  grand- 
daughter would  like  to  be  presented  to  the 
Emperor,  as  she  had  previously  met  him  in 
Egypt.  So  we  turned  to  his  majesty,  and  I 
had  hardly  named  the  young  lady,  when  he 
exclaimed,  "  Oh,  I  met  you  at  the  Pyramids, 
and  gave  you  my  photograph,  did  I  not?" 

We  were   fourteen   hours  on   that  jour- 
ney, returning  to  Philadelphia  at  eight  p.m. 


44  BccoUcctioiw. 

I  was  quite  worn  out,  and  went  to  bed. 
Rising  early,  I  picked  up  the  Ledger,  and 
about  the  first  thing  tliat  caught  my  eye 
was  an  account  of  the  Emperor's  attend- 
ance the  niglit  before  at  a  meetins:  of  the 
Academy  of  JSTatural  Sciences,  where,  it  ap- 
peared, he  had  taken  part  in  the  discussions 
of  the  evening.  I  mention  all  this  to  shoAv 
that  one  monarch  in  the  world,  at  least,  is 
a  man  of  energy  and  broadest  intelligence 
and  kindest  sympathy.  He  seemed  to 
know  all  about  Professor  Henry  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  when  I  made  the 
two  acquainted,  and  spoke  of  his  original 
and  practical  application  of  the  telegraph. 
By  invitation  of  the  professor  he  visited 
Washington  and  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
Again,  when  I  introduced  him  to  Joaquin 
Miller,  he  instantly  spoke  in  praise  of  the 
Siei-ra  IN'evada  poems.  Indeed,  there  was 
apparently  nothing  notable  in  literature,  art, 
or  science  that  had  not  eno-ao^ed  his  atten- 
tion.  In  women's  medical  colle<res  he  w^as 
much  interested.  I  broached  the  subject 
during  our  trip  to  the  coal-regions,  and  he 
amazed  me  with  the  breadth  of  his  informa- 
tion, dwelling,  as  he  did,  upon  the  labors  of 
those  women  who  were  sent  out  as  mission- 
aries. 


A  Trip  Abroach  45 

I  cannot  help  holding  the  unfortunate 
Dom  Pedro  in  the  kindest  remembrance ; 
and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  I  have  him 
as  a  loyal  friend.  He  presented  me  with  a 
large  photograph  likeness  bearing  an  auto- 
graph inscription,  and  witli  a  copy  of  his 
book  of  travels  in  which  he  wrote  some 
kindly  words.  It  was  one  of  the  pleasing 
methods  he  employed  to  show  me  I  was  not 
foro:otten,  that  I  have  been  honored  with 
an  earl}^  and  welcome  visit  from  each  new 
Brazilian  minister  to  the  United  States. 
And  perhaps  I  may  be  pardoned  for  quoting 
at  this  appropriate  place  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  letter  which  the  Hon.  Thomas 
A.  Osborn,  late  American  Minister  to  Bra- 
zil, recently  wrote  to  a  friend,  describing 
his  presentation  to  the  Emperor :  "  I  have 
thought,"  he  says,  "  that  you  might  not  be 
uninterested  in  learning  that  the  Emperor, 
in  an  informal  conversation  which  followed 
the  presentation  of  my  letter  of  credence, 
inquired  quite  feelingly  after  Mr.  George 
W.  Childs,  and  manifested  a  deep  concern  in 
his  welfare.  The  Emperor  spoke  of  the  hos- 
pitalities extended  to  him  in  Philadelphia, 
and  was  especially  warm  in  his  expressions 
touching  Mr.  Childs." 

Senhor  J.  G.  do  Amaral  Yalente,  Brazilian 


4Q  liccollcciions. 

Minister  to  tbe  United  States,  had  delivered 
to  me  in  October,  1889,  a  cup  and  saucer 
of  beautiful  design  and  exquisite  finish,  a 
present  from  the  Emperor.  Tlie  following 
letter  gives  an  account  of  the  presentation. 

"Brazilian  Legation, 
"  Washington,  October  15,  1889. 

"  Mr.  George  W.  Guilds  : 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  take  pleasure  in  for- 
warding by  express  to  your  address  a  small 
box  containing  a  cup  and  saucer  which  the 
Emperor  has  been  pleased  to  send  you  as  a 
souvenir. 

"  Perhaps  you  would  be  interested  in 
learnino:  the  circumstances  that  oris^inated 
His  Majesty's  special  mark  of  kindness  to 
you,  and  therefore  I  think  myself  justified 
in  saying  a  few  words  in  this  connection. 

"  As  you  well  know,  the  Emperor  has 
always  kept  the  most  pleasant  recollections 
of  his  visit  to  this  country,  as  well  as  a 
grateful  and  cordial  remembrance  of  you, 
after  whom  he  never  fails  to  inquire  when- 
ever an  opportunity  presents  itself.  Lately, 
before  my  departure  from  Rio  de  Janeiro  to 
the  States,  I  had  the  honor  to  call  to  receive 
His  Majesty's  orders.  At  the  close  of  the 
interview  I  was  instructed  to  give  his  aftec- 


A  Trip  Abroad.  47 

tioiuite  regards  to  some  of  his  friends,  your 
name  being  mentioned  in  the  first  place.  I 
then  took  the  liberty  of  suggesting  that  you 
had  a  very  curious  collection  of  china,  and 
that  I  believed  a  cup  and  saucer  coming  from 
His  Majesty  would  be  very  much  appreciated 
by  you  and  considered  a  great  addition  to 
the  same  collection.  The  Emperor  said  that 
if  that  was  the  case  he  would  be  very  much 
pleased  to  send  you  one,  and  added,  '  Well, 
I  shall  send  Mr.  Childs  the  same  cup  and 
saucer  I  use  to-morrow  at  my  breakfast,' 
and  immediately  gave  his  chamberlain  the 
instructions  to  that  effect. 

"  I  need  not  say  how^  glad  I  feel  at  the 
acquisition  you  are  going  to  make.  I  trust 
that  you  wdll  receive  the  said  souvenir  in 
perfect  order. 

"  Believe  me, 

"  Yours  very  truly, 
"  J.  Gr.  DO  Amaral  Yalente." 


The  following  self-explanatory  letter  from 
Captain  Luiz  Philippe  de  Saldanha  da  Gama, 
of  the  Brazilian  navy,  a  very  close  friend 
of  the  Emperor,  will  doubtless  prove  inter- 
esting in  view  of  the  recent  revolution  in 
Brazil : 


48  Recollections. 

"  Washington,  November  22,  1889. 

*'  Dear  Sir, — When  I  came  from  Brazil 
about  a  month  ago  to  join  the  Maritime 
Internationa]  Conference  as  a  delegate,  I  had 
the  honor  to  be  the  bearer  of  an  autograph 
letter  of  His  Majesty  Dom  Pedro  II.,  ad- 
dressed to  you.  Unable,  however,  to  move 
away  from  this  city  on  the  days  following 
my  arrival,  and  at  the  same  time  unwilling 
to  forward  such  a  letter  to  you  by  mail,  I 
was  still  awaiting  the  leisure  that  should 
permit  me  to  go  to  Philadelphia,  and  deliver 
myself,  into  your  own  hands,  so  expressive  a 
mark  of  His  Majesty's  kind  recollection  and 
cordial  feelings  towards  you.  But  now,  in 
the  face  of  the  grave  events  which  have  just 
occurred  in  Brazil,  I  consider  it  my  duty  to 
delaj^  no  longer  the  fulfilment  of  the  charge 
His  Majesty  imposed  upon  me,  and,  there- 
fore, I  take  the  liberty  to  send  you  his  letter, 
herewith  enclosed. 

"  Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  your  edi- 
torial of  the  20th  instant  in  reference  to 
the  Emperor's  personality  and  to  the  revo- 
lution which  has  just  dethroned  him.  As 
a  patriotic  Brazilian,  as  well  as  a  most  de- 
voted and  faithful  personal  friend  to  His 
Majesty,  I  must  say  I  felt  extremely  gratified 
in  reading  the  enlightened  views  expressed 


A  Dip  Abroad.  49 

by  a  republican  journal  like  the  Public  Ledger 
on  the  Emperor's  character,  his  learning,  his 
correct  behavior,  his  unselfishness,  ^his  good 
intentions,  and  his  patriotic  feelings. 

"  However,  the  revolution  in  Brazil  seems 
to  be  at  present  an  accomplished  fact;  and 
he,  who  never  condemned  any  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen  to  expatriation,  is  now  on  his 
way  to  a  strange  shore, — be,  who  really  was, 
during  fifty  years  of  reign,  the  firm  guar- 
antee of  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  all 
Brazilians,  has  been  compelled  to  leave  his 
country  in  an  hour's  time,  and  by  nigbt,  like 
a  wretched  criminal.  I  dare  hope  he  will 
reach  in  safety  the  land  of  exile,  and  meet 
yet  with  marks  of  love  and  afi:ection  from 
those  wbo  knew  bim  well  and  from  tbose 
who  are  indebted  to  him  for  many  favors. 

''Pray,  therefore,  accept  once  more  my 
most   grateful   thanks   for   what  you   have 
written  of  Dom  Pedro  de  Alcantara,  botb 
as  a  man  and  as  Emperor  of  Brazil, 
"  And  believe  me,  etc., 
"  L.  P.  DE  Saldanha  da  Gama, 

"  Captain. 

"  To  Mr.  George  W.  Childs." 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  letter 
sent  by  Dom  Pedro  : 

Q         d  5 


50  Recollections. 

"  Mr.  G.  W.  Childs, — In  recalling  your 
kindness  and  the  splendid  evening  that  you 
gave  me  in  Philadelphia,  I  recommend  to 
you  the  captain  of  the  Brazilian  navy,  Mr. 
Luiz  Philippe  de  Saldanha  da  Gama,  and  I 
am  sure  that  you  will  make  his  second  visit 
to  you  in  Philadelphia  as  agreeable  as  the 
first,  and  that  he  will  give  me  news  of  your 
beautiful  collections. 

"Affectionately  yours, 
"D.Pedro  d' Alcantara." 

"Rio  de  Janeiro,  October  4,  1889." 


CHAPTER    III. 

LIBRARY   TREASURES. 

Precious  Manuscripts — Poe's  Murders  in  the  Kue  Morgue 
—  A  Collection  of  Valuable  Autographs  —  Andrew 
Johnson's  Letters. 

You  would  like  to  see  "  the  treasures"  of 
mj  library  ?  There  they  are, — several  thou- 
sand of  them;  many  of  them  "notable  books 
indeed.  The  presentation  copies  alone,  I 
suppose,  contain  enough  interesting  auto- 
graph inscriptions  of  their  authors  to  amuse 
you.  There  are  many  curios  in  the  collec- 
tion,— many  valuable  manuscripts.  Here, 
bearing  the  date  of  May  17,  1703,  written 
in  a  small,  compact,  but  legible  hand,  is  the 
original  of  a  sermon  by  Cotton  Mather.  To 
set  it  off,  here  are  two  volumes  that  were 
once  in  the  library  of  Charles  Dickens, — one 
the  Poetical  Works  of  Leigh  Hunt,  with  an 
autograph  inscription  to  "  Charles  Dickens, 
from  his  constant  admirer  and  obliged  friend, 
Leigh  Hunt,"  the  other  a  copy  of  Hood's 

51 


52  Itecolledions. 

"  Comic    Animal"    for    1842.     It    contains 
these  characteristic  lines  in   Hood's  hand- 


wntino^: 


Pshaw !  away  with  leaf  and  berry 

And  the  sober-sided  cup  I 
Bring  a  goblet,  and  bright  sherry  I 

^nd  a  bumper  fill  me  up. 
Tho'  I  had  a  pledge  to  shiver, 

And  the  longest  ever  was, 
Ere  his  vessel  leaves  our  river, 

I  will  drink  a  health  to  Boz! 

Here's  success  to  all  his  antics, 

Since  it  pleases  him  to  roam, 
And  to  paddle  o'er  Atlantics, 

After  such  a  sale  at  home  ! — 
May  he  shun  all  rocks  whatever, 

And  the  shallow  sand  that  lurks. 
And  his  passage  be  as  clever 

As  the  best  among  his  works ! 

A  manuscript  I  prize  is  the  translation 
of  the  first  book  of  the  Iliad  by  my  friend 
IVilliam  Cullen  Bryant.  J^ot  less  interest- 
ing is  the  manuscript  of  Edgar  A.  Poe's 
remarkable  story  of  "  The  Murders  in  the 
Rue  Morgue."  It  is  written  in  a  fine  close 
hand  on  seventeen  pages  of  large  legal-cap 
paper,  and  has  quite  a  history.  The  late  Mr. 
J.  W.  Johnston,  from  whom  I  secured  it, 
wrote  me  that  it  was  in  the  spring  of  1841, 


Library  Treasures.  53 

at  the  time  he  was  an  apprentice  in  the  office 
ot*  Barrett  &  Thrasher,  printers,  in  Phila- 
delphia, that  the  manuscript  came  into  his 
possession.  It  was  at  this  office  that  Gra- 
ham's Magazine,  in  which  the  story  first  ap- 
peared, was  printed.  After  the  tale  had 
been  put  in  type  and  the  proof-read,  the 
manuscript  found  its  way  into  the  waste- 
basket;  but  Mr.  Johnston  picked  it  up, 
and,  obtaining  permission  to  keep  it,  took 
it  home  to  the  residence  of  his  father.  He 
then,  it  seems,  lost  sight  of  the  manuscript 
for  years.  His  father  removed  from  Phil- 
adelphia to  York  County,  Pennsylvania, 
thence  to  Maryland,  and  thence  to  Virginia, 
and  in  these  several  pilgrimages,  unknown 
to  himself,  carried  the  Poe  manuscript  along 
with  him,  folded  up  in  one  of  the  books  of 
his  library.  Determining  to  return  to  Penn- 
sylvania, he  made  sale  of  his  personal  effects, 
and  amons^  a  lot  of  old  books  offered  was 
found  the  Poe  manuscript.  It  was  at  once 
recognized,  rescued  from  the  rubbish  among 
which  it  had  so  nearly  been  lost,  and  for- 
warded to  Mr.  Johnston  the  son,  who  in  the 
mean  time  (1847)  had  removed  to  Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania,  and  begun  business  as  a  da- 
guerrotypist.  Twice  his  daguerrean  rooms 
took  fire,  and  once  (March  8,  1850)  almost 

5* 


54  Recollections. 

all  bis  books,  papers,  pictures,  and  apparatus 
were  consumed ;  but  tlie  Poe  manuscript, 
folded  witliin  tlie  leaves  of  an  old  music- 
book,  escaped  the  wreck. 

"About  the  year  1857,"  he  goes  on  to 
say,  in  his  letter  to  me,  "  a  grocery-store, 
occupying  the  lirst  floor  of  the  building  in 
whicb  were  mv  rooms,  took  fire  and  burned 
furiously.  The  flames  did  not  reacb  my 
rooms,  but  the  smoke  did,  and  the  firemen 
drenched  them  with  water,  destroying  books, 
papers,  and  other  property  ;  but,  by  rare  good 
fortune,  the  Poe  manuscript  again  escaped  all 
injury,  except  a  slight  discoloration.  From 
1861  to  1864  I  was  in  the  army,  but  on  my 
return  therefrom  I  found  the  Poe  manuscript 
in  the  old  music-book  where  I  had  left  it  on 
leaving  home.  In  the  spring  of  1865  I  took 
charge  of  the  Swan  Hotel,  Lancaster,  lie- 
moving  therefrom  in  1869,  a  great  deal  of 
rubbish  was  consigned  to  the  ash-pile,  the 
old  music-book  sharing  the  fate  of  many 
worthless  articles.  The  next-door  neighbor, 
thinking  it  had  been  inadvertently  thrown 
away,  picked  it  from  the  ash-pile  and  handed 
it  to  me.  On  opening  the  book,  I  again  be- 
held the  much-neglected  manuscript.  Pe- 
solved  that  it  should  not  again  be  subjected 
to  so  man}'  risks,  I  at  once  had  it  bound." 


Library  Treasures.  55 

I  have  a  very  interesting  letter  written 
under  date  of  August  13,  1841,  by  Poe  to 
the  Philadelphia  publishers  Lea  &  Blanchard. 
"  I  wish,"  he  says,  "  to  publish  a  new  collec- 
tion of  my  prose  tales,  with  some  such  title 
as  this  :  '  The  Prvse  Tales  of  Edgar  A.  Poe,  in- 
cluding "  The  Murders  in  the  Rue  Morgue,^'  the 
"  Descent  into  the  Maelstrom.,^'  and  all  his  later 
jrieces,  with  a  second  edition  of  the  "  Tales  of  the 
Grotesque  and  Arabesque.'^ ' 

"  The  later  pieces  will  be  eight  in  number, 
making  the  entire  collection  thirty-three, 
which  would  occupy  two  thick  novel  volumes. 

"  I  am  anxious  that  your  firm  should  con- 
tinue to  be  my  publishers,  and,  if  you  would 
be  willing  to  bring  out  the  book,  I  should  be 
glad  to  accept  the  terms  which  you  allowed 
me  before, — that  is,  you  receive  all  profits, 
and  allow  me  twenty  copies  for  distribution 
to  friends." 

I  possess  an  interesting  relic  of  Lord  By- 
ron,— his  writing-desk,  on  which  he  wrote 
"  Don  Juan"  and  other  poems.  It  bears  his 
crest  and  monosfram.  Bvron's  works  are 
represented  in  my  library  by  Murraj^'s  sump- 
tuous six- volume  edition  (1855),  inscribed  to 
me  *'  In  testimony  of  kind  remembrance, 
from  John  Murray."  The  first  volume  con- 
tains portions  of  the   manuscript  of  "  The 


66  Recollections. 

Bride  of  Abydos.''  It  also  gives  a  curious 
illustration  of  Byron's  dislike  of  Words- 
worth. When  "  Peter  Bell"  appeared,  By- 
ron cut  it  out,  placed  it  in  the  beginning  of 
a  copy  of  his  own  works,  and  on  the  margin 
of  the  page  wrote  a  parody  of  the  poem. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  "  Peter  Bell" 
ran  in  this  way : 

PROLOGUE. 

There's  something  in  a  flying  horse, 
And  something  in  a  huge  balloon  ; 

But  through  the  clouds  I'll  never  float 

Until  I  get  a  little  Boat 

Whose  shape  is  like  the  crescent  moon. 

And  now  I  have  a  little  Boat, 

In  shape  a  very  crescent  moon : — etc. 

Byron's  parody  is  as  follows : 

EPILOGUE. 

There's  something  in  a  stupid  ass, 
And  something  in  a  heavy  dunce ; 

But  never  since  I  went  to  school 

I  heard  or  saw  so  damned  a  fool 
As  William  Wordsworth  is  for  once. 

And  now  I've  seen  so  great  a  fool 

As  William  Wordsworth  is  for  once, 
I  really  wish  that  Peter  Bell 
And  he  who  wrote  it  were  in  hell, 
For  writing  nonsense  for  the  nonce. 


Library  Treasures.  57 

"  I  saw  the  light  in  ninety-eight," 
Sweet  Babe  of  one-and-twenty  years  I 

And  then  he  gives  it  to  the  nation, 

And  deems  himself  of  Shakespeare's  peers. 

He  gives  the  perfect  work  to  light ! 

Will  Wordsworth,  if  I  might  advise, 
Content  you  with  the  praise  you  get 
From  Sir  George  Beaumont,  Baronet, 

And  with  your  place  in  the  Excise. 
Ravenna,  March  22,  1820. 

Here  is  the  original  manuscript  of  "Wil- 
liam Godwin's  "  Cloucleslej  :  a  ISTovel."  It 
is  written  on  both  sides  of  the  sheets  of 
old  parchment  paper,  but  in  a  strikingly 
clear  and  smooth  hand.  Shakespearian 
scholars,  I  suppose,  would  be  particularly 
interested  in  my  copy  of  Mrs.  Mary  Cowden 
Clarke's  "  Complete  Concordance  to  Shake- 
speare." It  contains  a  selection  of  fifty 
closely-written  pages  of  the  original  manu- 
script, together  with  a  long  and  exceedingly 
interesting  autograph  letter,  which  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  the  progress  of  the  work 
from  its  inception,  through  the  twelve  years 
occupied  in  its  compilation,  and  four  more 
of  press-corrections,  to  its  final  publication ; 
also  copies  of  a  congratulatory  letter  from 
Douglas  Jerrold,  the  author's  application  for 
the  privilege  of  dedicating  the  work  to  the 


58  Recollections. 

Queen,  and  the  Queen's  reply,  besides  sev- 
eral portraits,  a  large  number  of  newspaper 
cuttings,  etc.  In  a  letter  to  me,  written  from 
Villa  ISTovello,  Genoa,  February  8, 1879,  Mrs. 
Clarke  says,  "  The  notice  in  your  paper  was 
read  through  tears  of  proud  emotion  at  the 
way  in  which  your  reviewer  recognized  the 
admirable  characters  of  my  Parents  :  It  was 
enjoyed  in  concert  by  our  family  party,  then 
assembled  around  our  breakfast-table  here ; 
which  included  my  brother  Alfred,  my  sister 
Sabilla,  and  our  two  charming  Italian  nieces, 
Portia  and  Valeria  Gis^liucci — to  whom  I 
read  aloud,  as  well  as  my  streaming  eyes 
would  allow  me,  this  American  warmth  of 
tribute  to  Vincent  and  Mary  Kovello's  moral 
and  intellectual  excellence." 

From  the  late  Anna  Maria  Hall  and  her 
husband,  S.  C.   Hall,*  I  procured   a  valu- 

*  I  received,  early  in  the  year  1889,  a  long  letter  from 
Mr.  Hall.  It  was  written  December  8, 1888,  but  delayed 
many  weeks  in  transmission  by  the  correspondent  with 
whom  it  was  designed  to  make  me  acquainted.  This 
was  no  doubt  one  of  the  last  letters  written  by  the 
venerable  author,  and  its  concluding  lines  are  full  of 
pathos.  "  My  dear,  much-honored,  and  greatly  loved 
friend,"  it  reads.  "  This  may  be  the  last  letter  of  con- 
sequence I  shall  write.  It  is  high  time  I  left  earlh.  I 
think  my  work  is  very  nearly  done, — and  I  shall  soon 
meet  my  beloved  at  the  Golden  Gate.     We  shall  meet 


Library  Treasures,  59 

able  collection  of  letters,  manuscripts,  and 
sketches  of  many  celebrated  people  of  the 
past  fifty  years.  Mrs.  Hall  presented  me 
with  the  Bible  of  Tom  Moore,  in  which 
the  poet  entered  the  names  and  birth-  and 
death-dates  of  his  children.  I  have  also  an 
original  score  signed  b}-  Tom  Moore,  and 
the  poet's  famous  Irish  harp. 

I  have  perhaps  the  only  complete  manu- 
script of  any  of  Thackeray's  works  in  ex- 
istence. It  is  his  "  Lectures  on  the  Four 
Georges,"  and  is  entirely  in  his  own  hand- 
writing. The  volume  is  illustrated  by  nu- 
merous original  drawings  by  Thackeray, 
some  of  which  are  colored  by  himself.  I 
have  also  the  original  manuscript  of  Walter 
Scott's  "  Chronicles  of  the  Canongate," 
which  he  presented  from  his  Abbotsford 
library  to  his  publishers,  with  a  kind  and 
appreciative  note. 

Among  many  other  original  manuscripts 
in  my  possession  are  "  The  ITeed  of  Two 
Loves,"  by  ^.  P.  Willis ;  James  Fenimore 


there,  I  am  very  sure !  Yet  I  am  in  fair  health,  my 
friends  do  not  neglect  me,  and  I  am  well  taken  care  of 
by  an  excellent  nurse-attendant." 

A  postscript  reads  :  "I  write  this  letter  in  the  eighty- 
ninth  year  of  my  age.  And  if  I  say  farewell,  you  will 
not  be  astounded." 


60  Recollections. 

Cooper's  "  Life  of  Captain  Richard  Som- 
ers  ;"  Mary  Howitt's  translation  of  Frederika 
Bremer's  "Hertha;"  Bulwer's  "Pilgrims 
of  the  Ehine"  and  "  Godolphin ;"  Gray's 
"  Habitations  of  our  Kings ;"  Harriet  Mar- 
tineau's  "  Retrospect  of  Western  Travel ;" 
the  Dickens  manuscripts  to  which  I  have 
previously  alluded ;  and  "  The  Italian  Bride," 
an  original  tragedy  by  John  Howard  Payne, 
author  of  "Home,  Sweet  Home."  This 
tragedy  by  Payne  is  in  four  acts,  and 
was  written  for  Charlotte  Cushman ;  but  it 
was  never  produced,  and  it  has  never  been 
printed.  Payne  left  two  manuscript  copies 
of  his  play.  One  was  given  to  his  friend 
Mr.  James  Rees,  a  well-known  literary 
man  of  Philadelphia,  from  whom  it  passed 
directly  to  me.  It  consists  of  ninety-six 
pages  entirely  in  the  handwriting  of  Payne 
himself,  with  only  a  few  pencil-marks  and 
some  stage-directions  on  the  alternate  blank 
pages. 

The  manuscript  of  "  The  Cow-Chase" 
must  not  be  overlooked.  This  satirical 
poem,  written  by  Major  Andre,  was  founded 
upon  an  unsuccessful  attempt  of  a  party 
under  General  Anthony  Wayne  to  capture 
a  block-house  upon  the  Hudson,  a  short 
distance  from  New  York  City,  on  the  21st 


Library  Treasures,  61 

of  July,  1780.  It  is  said  to  have  beeu  the 
last  literary  effort  of  the  ill-fated  young 
Englishman,  and,  singularly  enough,  the 
last  canto  was  published  in  New  York,  in 
Rivington's  Royal  Gazette,  on  the  same  day 
upon  which  he  was  arrested.  The  poem 
was  afterwards  printed,  with  full  notes,  for 
private  circulation,  and  this  with  the  original 
manuscript  was  the  property  of  the  Rev. 
"Wm.  B.  Sprague,  of  Albany,  ITew  York, 
an  extensive  collector  of  autographs,  who 
prized  it  as  probably  the  most  valuable 
article  in  his  collection.  The  manuscript 
has  been  admirably  illustrated  by  my  friend 
Mr.  Ferdinand  J.  Dreer,  of  Philadelphia, 
with  portraits  of  the  generals  of  the  Revo- 
lution, both  Continental  and  English,  well- 
known  and  historical  landscapes,  charac- 
ters, and  buildings.  The  closing  stanza  of 
Andre's  epic,  which  is  complete  in  three 
cantos,  runs  as  follows  : 

And  now  I've  closed  my  epic  strain, 

I  tremble  as  I  show  it, 
Lest  this  same  warrior-drover  Wayne 

Should  ever  catch  the  poet. 

Soon  afterwards  Andre  was  caught,  and 
some  unkind  hand  thus  continues  the  poem  : 

6 


62  llccoUedions*. 

And  when  the  epic  strain  was  sung, 
The  poet  by  the  neck  was  hung, 
And  to  his  cost  he  finds  too  late 
The  "dung-born  tribe"  decides  his  fate. 

It  would  not  be  interesting  merely  to  cat- 
alogue my  collection,  which  includes  poems, 
letters,  and  manuscripts  of  Burns,  Swift, 
Longfellow,  Bryant,  Holmes,  Tennyson, 
Pepys,  Pope,  Thomson,  Shelley,  Keats, 
William  Penn,  Voltaire,  Goethe,  Irving, 
Lamb,  Gibbon,  Hume,  Lord  Clarendon,  and 
others.  Coleridge  is  represented  by  a  long 
letter,  in  which  he  states  that  he  would  be 
glad  to  go  to  London  if  he  could  be  assured 
of  a  guinea  a  week.  Here  is  a  noteworthy 
manuscript  of  Schiller, — his  dramatic  poem 
entitled  "  Demetrius."  It  occupies  two  folio 
pages,  and  was  secured  for  me  through  the 
kindness  of  Longfellow.  There  is  also  the 
original  manuscript  draught  of  Tennyson's 
dedicatory  poem  to  the  Queen,  which  is 
prefixed  to  the  last  collected  edition  of  his 
poems. 

I  will  do  no  more  than  enumerate  a  letter 
of  Lord  I^elson,  written  four  days  before  his 
death;  a  number  of  presentation-volumes 
from  the  brothers  Chambers,  Robert,  Wil- 
liam, and  David ;  many  curiously  illustrated, 
inlaid,  and  arranged  works,  especially  Tick- 


Library  Treasurer.  63 

nor's  Life  of  Prescott,  two  volumes  quarto, 
with  several  hundred  illustrations;  Life  of 
Everett,  quarto;  Rogers's  Italy  and  Poems, 
inlaid  with  three  hundred  en£:ravino:s,  all 
first  impressions ;  a  work  on  the  empire  of 
Brazil,  presented  hy  Dom  Pedro  in  1876, 
and  containing  his  autograph ;  a  copy  of 
Chambers's  "  English  Literature,"  which  has 
autograph  letters,  about  seven  hundred  extra 
plates,  and  numerous  newspaper  cuttings 
and  references,  the  work  being  extended  to 
eight  volumes;  many  books  upon  the  l^orth 
American  Indians;  quite  a  large  collection 
of  Americana;  Lamb's  Works,  with  auto- 
graph letters  of  Lamb ;  Talfourd's  Life  of 
Lamb,  with  a  manuscript  poem  by  Talfourd, 
and  a  letter  written  to  myself;  Shakespeare's 
Works  in  many  editions ;  a  Collection  of 
the  Illustrations  of  H.  K.  Browne,  better 
known  as  "  Phiz,"  which  contains  all  the 
sketches,  several  hundred  in  number,  that 
can  be  obtained,  and  is  enriched  by  memo- 
randa and  notes  in  the  artist's  ow-n  hand; 
and  three  large  volumes  of  photographs, 
many  bearing  also  the  autographs,  of  inter- 
esting and  well-known  people  I  have  met  at 
home  and  abroad. 

One  of  the    most   unique   works   in    my 
library   is   "A    Collection    of   Autographs, 


64  Recollections. 

made  by  a  Scrivener."  Mr.  W.  G.  Latham, 
a  lawyer  of  New  Orleans,  compiled  the 
book.  As  a  notary  public  he  had  access  to 
many  original  documents,  and  he  presently 
began  to  make  accurate  copies  of  the  notable 
signatures  which  came  under  his  notice.  He 
thus  employed  the  leisure  hours  of  twenty- 
five  years,  and  made  at  least  one  trip  to 
Europe  to  complete  his  remarkable  collec- 
tion. If  lost  it  could  never  be  replaced. 
There  are  about  four  thousand  names  in 
the  book,  and  they  embrace  distinguished 
Americans  of  all  professions  from  the  be- 
ginning of  our  history ;  British  authors  from 
before  Shakespeare  until  within  a  few  years  ; 
men  of  renown  in  authorship,  medicine, 
theology,  natural  history,  botany,  music,  the 
drama,  and  the  fine  arts;  a  complete  list  of 
the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence ;  Washington  and  his  generals ;  Na- 
poleon and  leading  men  of  his  time  and 
nation;  and  the  royalty,  nobility,  and  mili- 
tary and  naval  celebrities  of  Europe  for 
the  past  three  centuries.  Appended  to  al- 
most every  signature  is  a  brief  biographical 
sketch. 

I  have  reserved  for  final  mention  a  vol- 
ume in  my  library  that  no  doubt  exceeds  all 
others  in  historical  interest.     It  is  a  large 


Library  Treasures.  65 

folio  containing  portraits  and  autograph  let- 
ters of  every  President  of  the  United  States 
from  Washino-ton  to  Harrison.  Eis^ht  of  the 
letters  are  personal  ones  from  the  various 
Presidents  to  myself. 

The  first  letter  is  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting. It  was  written  by  Washington  to 
Colonel  Clement  Biddle,  of  Philadelphia, 
under  date  of  Mount  Vernon,  December  8, 
1799, — that  is  to  say,  only  six  days  before 
Washington's  death.  It  was  the  last  letter 
he  wrote.  There  is  not  the  slightest  in- 
dication of  approaching  dissolution  in  the 
firm  handwriting;  the  letters  are  carefully 
formed,  the  words  carefully  chosen ;  and, 
though  he  spells  cabin  with  two  b's,  his 
shrewdness  in  business  dealing  is  illustrated 
in  the  stately  announcement  to  Colonel  Bid- 
die  that  he  has  it  in  mind  to  send  him  ^'  a 
hundred  or  two  barrels  of  flour  to  dispose 
of  for  me  in  the  Philadelphia  market,  as  it 
commands  a  better  price  there  than  in  Alex- 
andria, and  some  barrels  of  fish  also, — on 
commission."  He  also  instructs  his  corre- 
spondent about  the  purchase  of  various  kinds 
of  seeds. 

John  Adams's  letter  is  addressed  to  Com- 
modore Bainbridge;  he  declines  an  invita- 
tion to  visit  the  latter,  on  the  ground  that "  an 
e  6* 


66  Recollections. 

octogenariiin  gentleman  and  a  septnagena- 
riau  lady  (his  wife)  cannot  be  too  cautious 
of  engaging  in  bold,  daring,  and  hazardous 
enterprises  without  an  object  of  public  good." 
The  letters  are  all  of  a  private  and  entertain- 
ins:  character :  Piercers  letter  is  the  touchinof 
one  to  James  T.  Fields  to  which  I  have 
already  referred  in  connection  with  the  death 
of  Hawthorne;  the  Lincoln  letter  is  the 
famous  one  of  April  9,  1862,  containing  in- 
structions to  General  McClellan  and  con- 
cluding with  the  underscored  words,  ^' But 
you  must  act  ;'^  and  General  Grant  is  repre- 
sented by  the  noted  letter  he  wrote  me,  June 
6,  1877,  from  London.  This  is  the  letter, 
fourteen  pages  in  length,  which  I  telegraphed 
to  the  London  Times. 

Autograph  letters  of  Andrew  Johnson  are 
very  hard  to  obtain, — harder  than  the  letters 
of  any  other  President.  Letters  written  by 
his  secretary  and  merely  signed  by  himself 
are  common  enough.  I  have  been  enabled, 
however,  to  secure  quite  a  store  of  Johnson's 
original  manuscripts,  including  the  account- 
books  he  kept  while  a  tailor.  They  are  full 
of  droll  expressions.  The  letter  I  have 
selected  to  represent  him  in  the  volume  of 
the  Presidents  is  an  interestins^  communica- 
tion  to  his  friend  Major  (afterwards  General) 


Library  Treasures.  67 

Sam  Milligan.  It  is  ill  written,  and  notable 
for  its  odd  misspelling  and  its  frank  political 
gossip.  It  breathes  a  feverish  anxiety  for 
the  action  of  the  Southern  leaders,  and  hopes 
"there  is  still  intellis^ence  enono^h  and  virtue 
in  the  country  sufficient  to  save  it."  "  As 
you  say,"  he  writes,  "  they"  (meaning  the 
"treasonable  men")  "  have  given  me  'thun- 
der' in  some  places." 

Perhaps  his  nearest  friend  was  the  Hon. 
Samuel  J.  Eandall,  who  fairly  lived  at  the 
White  House  during  Johnson's  stormy 
administration.  Yet,  as  illustrating  the 
scarcity  of  Johnson's  autograph  letters, 
even  Mr.  Randall  has  none  in  his  possession. 
I  have  three  addressed  to  Major  Milligan 
which  are  full  of  entertainino*  chat  about 
politics. 

But  haven't  I  talked  enough  about  my 
friends  ?  For  these  books  and  manuscripts 
are  as  much  my  friends  as  human  beings. 
And  I  had  almost  forgotten  the  clocks.  I 
have  a  collection  of  nearly  fift}'  in  various 
places,  and  it  has  been  said  that  a  whole 
history  of  clock-  and  watchmaking  might 
be  written  from  a  studv  of  them.  The  most 
important  clock  in  my  possession  is  the  one 
constructed  by  David  Rittenhouse,  the  great 
astronomer,  for   a   rich    citizen  of  colonial 


68  Recollections. 

Philadelpliia.  It  now  stands  in  my  office. 
Barton,  in  Lis  Life  of  Rittenbouse,  gives  its 
interesting  pedigree.  Tliere  is  attached  to 
it  the  mechanism  of  a  musical  clock,  besides 
an  accurate  little  planetarium,  placed  on  its 
face  above  the  dial-plate.  It  was  made  for 
Mr.  Joseph  Potts,  who  paid  six  bundred  and 
forty  dollars  for  it;  in  the  spring  of  1774  it 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  Thomas  Prior,  who 
refused  General  Sir  William  Howe's  ofter 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  guineas  for  it, 
shortly  before  the  evacuation  of  Philadelphia 
in  1778,  and  another  offer  of  the  Spanish 
Minister  of  eight  hundred  dollars,  made  wdth 
a  view  of  presenting  it  to  his  sovereign. 
After  Mr.  Prior's  death,  in  1801,  it  became 
the  property  of  Professor  Barton,  the  biog- 
rapher of  Bittenhouse,  and  from  him  passed 
into  the  possession  of  the  late  James  Swain, 
at  the  sale  of  whose  effects  I  bought  it  in 
October,  1879. 

But  the  mention  of  that  office  of  mine, 
about  which  so  much  has  been  written,  must 
not  tempt  me  into  further  talking.  What- 
ever it  may  be  to  others,  it  is  hallowed  for 
me  by  a  thousand  associations.  Look  any 
way  I  will,  a  familiar  face  confronts  me :  on 
this  side  Bishop  Simpson,  on  that  Dean 
Stanley  and   Dickens;    over   there   my  old 


Library  Treasures,  60 

friends  Eobert  C.  Winthrop  and  General 
Grant;  faces  of  men  and  women, — of  Mis- 
son  and  Modjeska;  of  Mme.  Bernhardt, — 
a  portrait  painted  by  herself. 

This  is  a  fitting  place  to  stop.  Just  one 
parting  reflection.  If  asked  what,  as  the 
result  of  my  experience,  is  the  greatest 
pleasure  in  life,  I  should  say,  doing  good  to 
others.  ITot  a  strikingly  original  remark, 
perhaps;  but  seemingly  the  most  difficult 
thing  in  the  world  is  to  be  prosperous  and 
generous  at  the  same  time.  During  the  war 
I  asked  a  very  rich  man  to  contribute  some 
money  to  a  certain  relief  fund.  He  shook  his 
head.  "  Childs,"  he  said,  "  I  can't  give  you 
anj'thing.  I  have  worked  too  hard  for  my 
money."  That  is  just  it.  Being  generous 
grows  on  one  just  as  being  mean  does.  The 
disposition  to  give  and  to  be  kind  to  others 
should  be  inculcated  and  fostered  in  children. 
It  seems  to  me  that  is  the  way  to  improve 
the  world  and  make  happy  the  people  who 
are  in  it. 


CHAPTER    lY. 


GENERAL  GRANT. 


Personal  Characteristics — The  Electoral  Commission— 
His  Simplicity — Domestic  Life. 

General  Grant  was  one  of  the  truest  and 
most  cono^enial  friends  I  ever  had.  We  first 
met  in  1863,  after  the  victory  of  Yicksburg. 
The  general  and  Mrs.  Grant  had  come  to 
Philadelphia  to  make  arrangements  to  put 
their  children  at  school  in  Burlington,  ]^ew 
Jersey.  Prom  that  time  until  his  death  our 
intimacy  grew.  In  his  life  three  qualities 
were  conspicuously  revealed, — justice,  kind- 
ness, and  firmness. 

Seeing  GeneralGrant  frequently  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  I  had  abundant  oppor- 
tunity to  notice  these  qualities.  We  lived 
at  Long  Branch  on  adjoining  properties,  on 
the  same  land,  without  any  division,  and 
I  may  say  there  never  was  a  day  when  we 
were  tosrether  there  on  which  either  I  was 
not  in  his  house  or  he  in  mine.  He  would 
70 


General  Grant.  71 

often  come  over  and  breakfast  or  dine  with 
me.  I  never  saw  him  in  the  field,  thousrh  I 
corresponded  with  him  during  the  war,  and 
whenever  an  opportunity  presented  itself  he 
would  come  to  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose 
of  seeing  his  family  at  Burlington,  and  w^ould 
often  stay  with  me,  and  in  that  way  he  made 
a  great  many  friends.  That  was  as  early 
as  1863.  He  always  seemed  to  enjoy  his 
visits  here,  as  they  gave  him  rest  during  the 
time  he  was  in  the  army.  These  visits  to 
Philadelphia  were  continued  after  he  became 
President,  and  he  always  found  recreation 
and  pleasure  in  them. 

Much  has  been  published  about  General 
Grant,  but  there  are  many  things  I  have  not 
seen  stated,  and  one  is  that  he  had  consid- 
erable artistic  taste  and  talent.  lie  painted 
very  well.  One  of  his  paintings,  twelve  by 
eighteen  inches,  he  gave  to  his  friend  the 
late  Hon.  A.  E.  Borie,  of  Philadelphia,  wdio 
was  the  Secretary  of  the  is'avy  in  his  first 
Cabinet.  That  picture  is,  I  believe,  one  of 
the  two  that  he  is  known  to  have  painted. 
On  the  death  of  Mr.  Borie  it  was  presented 
by  his  family  to  Mrs.  Grant,  and  the  engrav- 
ing of  it  was  made  from  the  original  sent 
to  me  for  the  purpose  by  Colonel  Fred.  D. 
Grant.     Of  the  other  painting  there  is  no 


72  Recollections. 

trace.  Geneml  Grant  stood  very  higli  with 
his  professor  of  drawing  at  West  Point,  and 
if  he  had  persevered  in  that  line  might,  it 
has  always  seemed  to  me,  have  made  a  good 
artist.  He  was  througliout  his  cadetship  apt 
in  mathematics  and  drawing.  Tlie  picture 
alluded  to  is  that  of  an  Indian  chief,  at  a 
trading-post  in  the  N^orthw^est,  exchanging 
skins  and  furs  with  a  group  of  traders  and 
trappers.  The  Indian  stands  in  the  foregound 
and  is  the  central  object, — a  noble  figure, 
well  painted,  and  in  full  and  characteristic 
costume.  I  have  often  seen  the  painting, 
which  has  been  very  much  admired.  The 
general  took  a  good  deal  of  pride  in  it 
himself. 

General  Grant  was  not  an  ardent  student. 
Early  in  life  he  was  somewhat  of  a  novel- 
reader,  but  latterly  he  read  history,  biog- 
raphy, and  travels.  He  w^as  a  careful  reader, 
and  remembered  everything  he  read.  He 
was  a  great  reader  of  newspapers.  I  recall 
an  incident  which  happened  while  we  were 
at  Long  Branch,  just  after  General  Sher- 
man's Memoirs  had  been  published.  Re- 
ferring to  the  work,  I  asked  him  if  he  had 
read  it.  He  said  he  had  not  had  time  to  do 
so.  One  of  the  persons  present  observed, 
"  Why,  general,  you  won't  find  much  in  it 


General  Grant  73 

about  yourself.  Sherman  doesn't  seem  to 
think  you  were  in  the  war."  The  general 
said,  "  I  don't  know ;  I  have  seen  some  ad- 
verse criticisms,  but  I  am  going  to  read  it 
and  judge  the  book  for  myself." 

After  he  had  perused  the  work  carefully 
and  attentively,  I  asked  him  what  he  thought 
of  it.  ''Well,"  he  said,  "it  has  done  me 
full  justice.  It  has  given  me  more  credit 
than  I  deserve.  Any  criticism  I  might  make 
would  be  that  I  think  Sherman  has  not  done 
justice  to  Logan,  Blair,  and  other  volunteer 
generals,  whom  he  calls  political  generals. 
These  men  did  their  duty  faithfully,  and 
I  never  believe  in  imputing  motives  to 
people." 

General  Sherman  had  sent  to  me  the 
proof-sheets  of  that  portion  of  the  Memoirs 
relating  to  General  Grant  before  the  book 
was  published,  and  asked  if  I  had  any  sug- 
gestions to  make,  and  if  I  thought  he  had 
been  just  to  the  general.  I  informed  Gen- 
eral Grant  that  I  had  read  these  proof-sheets, 
and  that  I  thought,  as  he  did,  that  General 
Sherman  had  done  him  full  justice.  General 
Grant  had  the  highest  opinion  of  General 
Sherman  as  a  military  man,  and  always  en- 
tertained a  great  personal  regard  for  him. 
lie  was  always  magnanimous,  particularly 

D  7 


74  Recollebdons. 

to  his  army  associates.  He  was  a  man  who 
rarely  used  the  pronoun  I  in  conversation 
when  speaking  of  his  battles. 

There  is  an  amusing  little  incident  I  re- 
call, a  propos  of  a  large  painting  of  General 
Sherman  on  his  "  March  to  the  Sea,"  which 
hangs  in  the  hall  of  my  Long  Branch  house, 
and  which  was  pain  ted  by  Kauffmann .  Sher- 
man sits  in  front  of  the  tent,  in  a  w^hite 
shirt,  without  coat  or  vest.  The  picture 
shows  a  camp-fire  in  front,  and  the  moon- 
lio-ht  in  the  rear  of  the  tents.  The  criticism 
of  General  Grant  when  he  first  saw  it  was, 
*'  That  is  all  very  fine ;  it  looks  like  Sher- 
man ;  but  he  never  wore  a  boiled  shirt  there, 
I  am  sure." 

While  livins:  at  Lons^  Branch  few  Confed- 
erate  ofiicers  who  visited  the  place  failed  to 
call  upon  General  Grant.  He  was  always 
glad  to  see  them,  and  he  invariably  talked 
over  with  them  the  incidents  and  results  of 
the  war.  The  general  held  in  high  estima- 
tion General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  and  always 
spoke  of  him  as  one  of  the  very  best  of  the 
Southern  generals.  At  one  of  my  dinners 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  getting  Johnston, 
Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan  together. 

With  reo^ard  to  election  matters  General 
Grant  was  a  close  observer,  and  had  a  won- 


General  Grant  lb 

derful  judgment  respecting  results.  One 
particular  case  may  be  cited.  During  the 
canvass  of  his  second  term  (towards  the 
latter  part  of  it)  there  began  to  be  doubts 
throuo^hout  the  country  of  his  election. 
Senator  Wilson,  who  was  then  running  on 
the  ticket  for  Vice-President,  and  who  was 
a  man  of  the  people  and  had  had  a  good 
deal  of  experience  in  election  matters  for 
forty  years,  made  an  extensive  tour  through 
the  country,  and  came  to  my  house,  just 
afterwards,  very  despondent.  He  went  over 
the  ground  and  said  that  the  result  was  in 
a  great  deal  of  doubt.  I  hastened  to  see 
General  Grant,  and  told  him  of  this  feeling, 
particularly  as  it  impressed  Senator  Wilson. 
The  general  said  nothing,  but  sent  for  a 
map  of  the  United  States.  He  laid  the  map 
on  the  table,  went  over  it  with  a  pencil,  and 
said,  "  We  will  carry  this  State,  that  State, 
and  that  State,"  until  he  nearlj^  covered  the 
whole  United  States.  It  occurred  to  me  he 
might  as  well  put  them  all  in,  and  I  ventured 
the  remonstrance,  "I  think  it  would  not  be 
policy  to  talk  that  way;  the  election  now  is 
pretty  near  at  hand.''  When  the  election 
came,  the  result  was  that  Grant  carried  every 
State  that  he  had  said  he  would, — a  predic- 
tion made  in  the  face  of  the  feeling  through- 


76  Recollections. 

out  the  country  that  the  Republican  cause 
was  growing  weaker,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  candidate  for  Vice-President  on  the 
ticket  with  Grant,  who  was  deeply  interested 
in  the  election,  had  visited  various  parts  of 
the  country,  South  and  West,  and  had  come 
back  apprehensive  and  dispirited. 

This  mention  of  Henry  Wilson  reminds 
me  that  when  Lord  Houghton  (Richard 
Monckton  Milnes)  was  my  guest  in  Philadel- 
phia, he  asked  me  to  show^  him  a  "  typical 
American."  I  told  him  that  Vice-President 
Wilson  was  the  man  he  was  seeking, — that 
he  illustrated  most  admirably,  in  his  astonish- 
in  2^  career  from  a  shoemaker's  bench  to  the 
presiding  chair  of  the  Senate,  the  possibili- 
ties of  American  citizenship.  I  sent  for  Mr. 
Wilson,  and  the  two  men  spent  some  days 
together  at  my  house.  Shortly  after,  Wilson 
was  stricken  down  with  illness,  and  died  in 
the  room  of  the  Vice-President  in  the  Capitol 
building  at  Washington. 

General  Grant  was  staying  with  me  in 
Philadelphia  at  the  time  of  the  Tilden  and 
Hayes  campaign,  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
momentous  day  after  the  election,  when  the 
returns  gave  Tilden  a  majority  of  all  the 
electors,  he  accompanied  me  to  my  office. 
After  a  few  moments  an  eminent  Republican 


General  Grant,  77 

Senator  and  one  or  two  other  leading  Repub- 
licans walked  in,  and  they  went  over  the 
returns.  One  of  these  leaders,  notwithstand- 
ing the  returns,  said,  -^  Hayes  is  elected," 
an  opinion  in  which  the  others  coincided. 
General  Grant  listened  to  them,  but  said 
nothing.  After  they  had  settled  the  matter 
in  their  own  minds,  he  said, ''  Gentlemen,  it 
looks  to  me  as  if  Mr.  Tilden  is  elected." 

When  the  contention  on  this  point  took 
such  bitter  and  angry  form  and  excited  so 
much  hot  blood,  the  more  conservative  and 
the  wiser  men  in  Congress,  like  Eandall, 
Garfield,  Abram  S.  Hewitt,  and  Kasson  in 
the  House,  and  Edmunds,  Bayard,  and 
Conkling  in  the  Senate,  seeing  the  necessity 
of  adopting  some  quieting  and  reassuring 
measures,  began  to  consider  what  ultimately 
took  form  in  the  Electoral  Commission. 
About  this  time  General  Grant  asked  me 
to  make  him  a  visit.  He  had  patriotically 
espoused  the  proposal  for  an  amicable  adjust- 
ment of  the  threatening  dispute  in  any  prac- 
tical form,  and  warmly  favored  the  idea  of 
an  Electoral  Commission.  When  I  got  to 
the  White  House  he  said,  "  This  matter  is 
very  complicated,  and  the  people  will  not  be 
satisfied  unless  something  is  done  in  regard 

to  it  which  will   appeal  to  their  sense  of 

7* 


78  Recollections, 

justice.  Now,"  he  continued,  "I  have 
thought  of  an  Electoral  Commission,  but 
the  leaders  of  the  party  are  opposed  to  it, 
Avhich  I  am  sorry  to  see.  They  say  that  if 
an  Electoral  Commission  is  appointed  we 
mis^ht  as  well  count  in  Mr.  Tilden.  I  would 
rather  have  Mr.  Tilden  than  that  the  Repub- 
licans should  have  a  President  who  could  be 
stigmatized  as  a  fraud.  If  I  w^ere  Mr.  Hayes, 
I  would  not  have  the  ofl3.ce  unless  my  claim 
to  it  were  settled  in  some  w^ay  outside  the 
Senate.  This-matter  is  opposed  by  the  lead- 
ing Republicans  in  the  House  and  Senate 
and  throughout  the  country." 

President  Grant  invited  several  leading 
Republican  Senators  to  dine  with  him  to 
meet  me  and  to  get  their  views.  He  said  to 
me,  "  You  see  the  feeling  here.  I  find  them 
almost  universally  opposed  to  anything  like 
an  Electoral  Commission."  I  named  a  lead- 
ing Democrat  in  the  House  (Hon.  Samuel  J. 
Randall),  who  was  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent men  in  the  country,  a  man  of  large 
influence  and  of  great  integrity  of  character, 
and  whom  it  would  be  v/ell  to  see.  I  sent 
for  Mr.  Randall  to  come  to  the  White  House 
to  see  me,  and  put  the  dilemma  to  him,  as 
follows:  "It  is  very  hard  for  the  President 
and  very  embarrassing  to  men  on  his  own 


General  Grant.  79 

side  that  this  matter  does  not  seem  to  find 
favor  with  them,  besides  hav-ing  Democratic 
opposition.  Republicans  think  they  might 
as  well  count  Tilden  in  as  to  agree  to  an 
Electoral  Commission ;  but  as  the  feeling 
tbrouo'hout  the  country  demands  as  honest 
a  count  of  the  vote  as  possible,  this  Electoral 
Commission  ought  to  be  appointed."  There 
was  every  prospect  that  the  great  majority 
of  the  Democrats  would  ultimately  support 
the  measure,  though  chafing  and  angry 
under  what  they  appeared  to  regard  as  a 
great  wrong  to  them  and  to  the  country. 

Mr.  Randall  was  Speaker  of  the  House  at 
the  time.  His  language  in  reply  made  it 
manifest  that  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  exert  in 
all  proper  ways  his  powerful  infiuence  for 
a  peaceful  adjustment.  He  was  careful  in 
speech,  for  he  evidently  realized  if  an  Elec- 
toral Commission  was  created  by  law  that 
he,  as  presiding  officer  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  would  have  to  see,  in  part 
at  least,  that  such  law  was  faithfully  carried 
out, — a  task  which  he  executed  with  firmness 
amid  an  excited  assembly. 

General  Grant,  however,  did  send  for  Sen- 
ator Conkling,  and  said,  with  deep  earnest- 
ness, "  This  matter  is  a  serious  one,  and  the 
people  feel  it  very  deeply.     I  think  this  Elec- 


80  Recollections. 

toral  Commission  ought  to  be  appointed." 
Conkling  answered,  "  Mr.  President,  Sen- 
ator Morton"  (who  was  then  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  of  the  Senate)  "  is  opposed  to 
it  and  opposed  to  your  efforts ;  but  if  you 
wish  the  Commission  carried,  I  can  help 
to  do  it."  Grant  said,  "  I  wish  it  done." 
Thereupon  Mr.  Conkling  took  hold  of  the 
measure  and  contributed  his  powerful  aid 
in  putting  it  through  the  Senate. 

Few  persons  not  in  public  life  understood 
fully  at  the  time  how  near  the  country  was  to 
another  civil  war,  and  of  course  had  no  ade- 
quate appreciation  of  the  vital  service  done 
by  the  statesmen  named  above,  and  by  those 
of  both  parties  who  patriotically  stood  up  in 
their  support.  But  the  peril  was  imminent, 
and  the  people  of  the  country  owe  to  all  of 
them  a  great  debt  of  gratitude, — and  espe- 
cially to  Messrs.  Randall,  Edmunds,  Conk- 
ling, and  General  Grant. 

General  Patterson,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
had  been  an  intimate  friend  of  President 
Jackson,  and  a  life-long  Democrat,  was 
also  sent  for  at  that  time  by  President 
Grant.  General  Patterson  had  large  es- 
tates in  the  South,  and  a  great  deal  of  in- 
fluence with  the  Democrats,  and  particularly 
with  Southern  Democrats.     He  was  then  up- 


General  Grant.  81 

wards  of  eighty,  but  he  went  to  Washington 
and  remained  one  or  two  weeks  with  Presi- 
dent Grant,  working  hard  to  accomplish  the 
purpose  in  view.  After  the  bill  had  passed 
and  while  it  was  awaiting  his  signature. 
General  Grant  went  to  a  State  Fair  in 
Maryland  upon  the  day  it  should  have 
been  signed,  and  there  was  much  perturba- 
tion about  it.  I  was  telegraphed  by  those  in- 
terested that  General  Grant  was  absent,  and 
that  they  were  anxious  about  the  signing.  I 
replied  that  they  might  consider  the  bill  as 
good  as  signed.  The  President  returned  to 
Washington  that  night  and  put  his  name  to 
the  document. 

Just  before  General  Grant  started  on  his 
journey  around  the  world  he  was  spending 
some  days  with  me,  and  at  a  dinner  with  Mr. 
A.  J.  Drexel,  Colonel  A.  K.  McClure,  and  my- 
self, he  reviewed  the  contest  over  the  creation 
of  the  Electoral  Commission  very  fully  and 
with  rare  candor.  The  chief  significance  of 
his  view  lay  in  the  fact,  as  he  stated  it,  that  he 
expected  from  the  beginning  until  the  final 
judgment  that  the  electoral  vote  of  Louisiana 
would  be  awarded  to  Tilden.  He  spoke 
of  South  Carolina  and  Oregon  as  justly  be- 
longing to  Hayes,  of  Florida  as  reasonably 
doubtful,  and  of  Louisiana  as  for  Tilden. 
/ 


82  Recollections. 

General  Grant  acted  in  ijood  faith  through- 
out  the  whole  affair.  It  has  been  said  that 
the  changing  of  the  complexion  of  the  court 
threw  the  office  into  Ha^-es's  hands,  and  that 
if  the  court  had  remained  as  it  was,  Tilden 
would  have  been  declared  President.  Gen- 
eral Grant  was  the  soul  of  honor  in  this 
matter,  and  no  one  ever  hinted  that  he  was 
unfair  or  untruthful  in  any  way.  I,  for  one, 
do  not  believe  that  he  could  possibly  tell  a 
lie  or  act  deceitfully. 

There  is  another  point  in  politics  not  gen- 
erally known.  General  Garfield,  during  his 
canvass,  became  very  much  demoralized. 
He  was  fearful  that  the  Republicans  would 
not  carry  Indiana,  and  was  doubtful  whether 
they  would  carry  Ohio.  In  that  emergency 
urgent  appeals  were  made  to  General  Grant, 
and  he  at  once  threw  himself  into  the  breach. 
He  saw  his  strong  personal  friends  and  told 
them  they  must  help.  There  was  one  very 
influential  man,  Senator  Conkling,  whom 
General  Grant  sent  for  and  informed  that 
he  must  turn  in  and  assist.  He  at  first  de- 
clined, being  hard  pressed  with  professional 
engagements,  but  at  General  Grant's  urgent 
solicitation  finally  entered  the  field  and  con- 
tributed handsomely  to  the  victory.  In  order 
to  do  so  he  was  compelled  to  return  to  clients 


General  Grant.  83 

seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  dollars, 
which  bad  been  paid  him  as  retaining  fees 
in  cases  to  be  tried  in  October  durins^  his 
absence.  General  Grant  went  into  the  can- 
vass with  might  and  main.  The  tide  was 
turned,  and  it  was  through  General  Grant's 
individual  efforts,  seconded  by  those  of  his 
strong  personal  friends,  who  did  not  feel  any 
particular  interest  in  the  election,  that  Gar- 
field was  successful. 

General  Grant  never  by  word  or  by  letter 
suggested  to  any  one  that  he  would  like  to 
he  nominated  for  a  third  terra.  Neither  Mr. 
Conkling  nor  General  Logan  nor  Senator 
Cameron  had  anv  assurance  from  him  in 
any  way  that  he  wished  the  nomination, 
and  they  proceeded  in  their  contest  for  it 
without  any  authority  from  him  whatever. 
His  heart  was  not  on  a  third  term  at  all. 
He  had  had  enough  of  politics.  After  his 
second  term  he  told  me,  "  I  feel  like  a  boy 
out  of  school."  At  first  General  Grant  in- 
tended to  decline.  In  conversation  with  me 
he  said,  "  It  is  very  difficult  to  decline  a  thing 
which  has  never  been  oftered;"  and  before 
he  left  this  country  for  the  "West  Indies,  I 
said,  "  General,  you  leave  this  matter  in  the 
hands  of  your  friends."  He  knew  I  was  op- 
posed to  a  third  term.     His  political  friends, 


84  Recolledions. 

however,  were  in  favor  of  it,  not  merely  as 
friends,  but  because  they  thought  he  was  the 
only  man  who  could  be  elected  by  the  Re- 
publicans. There  is  not  a  line  of  his  in  ex- 
istence in  which  he  expresses  any  desire  to 
have  that  nomination.  Towards  the  last, 
when  the  canvass  became  very  hot,  I  sup- 
pose his  natural  feeling  was  that  he  would 
like  to  win.  But  he  never  laid  any  plans. 
He  never  encouraged  or  abetted  anything 
lookino:  towards  a  third-term  movement. 

General  Grant  was  very  magnanimous  to 
those  who  diifered  with  him,  and  when  I 
asked  him  what  distressed  him  most  in  his 
political  life  he  said,  "  To  be  deceived  by 
those  I  trusted."  He  had  a  great  many 
distresses. 

Of  his  quick  perception  in  financial  mat- 
ters I  remember  a  striking  instance.  On 
one  of  the  great  financial  questions — the 
Inflation  Bill,  pending  before  Congress — he 
was  consulting  with  Mr.  A.  J.  Drexel,  of 
Philadelphia,  whom  he  regarded  as  one  of 
his  strongest  personal  friends.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1873,  the  general  had  gone  to  New 
York,  and  had  listened  for  a  day  to  appeals 
from  inflationists  to  expand  the  currency  by 
issuing  the  forty-four  millions  of  greenbacks 
then  in  the  Treasury.     He  patiently  heard 


General  Grant,  85 

their  arguments,  but  refused  their  request. 
Still,  he  was  so  strongly  impressed  with  cer- 
tain views  held  by  many  of  the  ablest  men 
in  the  country  who  had  opinions  on  the  sub- 
ject different  from  his  own,  that  he  stated 
them  to  Mr.  Drexel.  Mr.  Drexel  combated 
these  opinions,  and  as  the  result  of  that  dis- 
cussion the  general  adopted  his  views ;  and 
when  the  measure  to  which  I  allude  was 
laid  before  him,  he  returned  it  to  Cono-ress 
with  his  disapproval.  Here  was  a  subject 
he  had  considered,  as  he  thought,  fully,  but 
when  new  light  was  given  to  him  by  Mr. 
Drexel,  whom  he  knew  to  be  a  well-in- 
formed, conservative,  unselfish,  and  relial)le 
man,  and  an  experienced  and  able  financier, 
and  who  possessed  the  public  confidence,  he 
changed  his  opinions,  and  wrote  the  veto 
message  of  April  22, 1874.  Congratulations 
immediately  poured  in  upon  him  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  even  the  strongest 
advocates  of  the  bill  acknowledged  that  the 
President's  final  judgment  was  right,  and 
that  in  this  matter  especially  he  was  im- 
measurably superior  in  statesmanship  to  the 
Congressional  majority. 

A  great  man}^  people  had  an  idea  that 
General  Grant  was  very  much  set  in  his 
opinions;   but,  while  he  had  decided  opin- 

8 


86  RecoUeciions. 

ions,  at  the  stinie  time  he  was  always  open 
to  conviction.  Very  often  in  talking  with 
liini  lie  would  make  no  observation,  and 
when  one  had  i^cot  throui>:h  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult  to  tell  exactly  whether  he  had  grasped 
the  subject  or  not,  but  in  a  very  short  time, 
if  the  matter  was  alluded  to  again,  it  would 
be  found  that  he  had  comprehended  it 
thoroughly.  His  power  of  observation  and 
mental  assimilation  was  remarkable. 

Of  his  simplicity  and  unpretentiousness  I 
will  give. an  illustration.  During  one  of  his 
drives  with  me  through  Fairmount  Park, 
Philadelphia,  I  called  his  attention  to  the 
little  log  cabin  which  we  were  passing  on 
one  of  the  main  avenues,  and  which  was  his 
headquarters  during  the  war.  With  a  merry 
twinkle  of  his  eye  he  said,  "  I  can  tell  you 
a  little  story  connected  with  that  cabin.  For 
a  long  time  my  officers  were  urging  me  to 
let  them  put  up  a  building  for  my  headquar- 
ters. My  headquarters  had  previously  been 
on  the  field  and  in  the  saddle,  and  I  had 
never  thought  of  any  other.  I  begun  to 
suspect  that  their  solicitude  for  my  comfort 
was  not  altogether  disinterested,  and  told 
them  they  might  put  up  a  small  affair.  Al- 
most instantly,  as  if  by  magic,  headquarters 
grew  up  in  every  direction.     So  it  turned 


General  Grant.  87 

out  that  they  were  partly  thinking  of  their 
own  comfort."  There  was  no  "  nonsense" 
ahout  him.  He  was  always  neat  in  dress, 
but  not  fastidious.  He  said  he  got  cured  of 
his  pride  in  regimentals  when  he  came  home 
from  West  Point. 

There  was  a  slight  tinge  of  superstition 
in  his  composition.  I  remember  hearing 
him  say  that  he  never  would  turn  back  if  he 
could  possibly  avoid  it,  and  he  illustrated 
the  remark  by  telling  me  of  an  incident  that 
occurred  when  he  was  a  boy  living  in  the 
country.  He  had  started  on  horseback  to 
go  to  the  mill,  and  while  musing  he  had 
passed  the  road  that  led  to  it;  instead  of  re- 
tracing his  steps,  he  drove  a  long  distance 
around,  so  that  he  could  reach  the  mill  with- 
out going  back.  Was  not  this  trait  one  of 
the  secrets  of  his  success  in  the  war  ?  When 
I  spoke  to  my  old  friend,  Paul  Du  Chaillu, 
in  regard  to  this  peculiarity  of  General 
Grant,  he  replied  that  it  was  an  old  super- 
stition, and  that  he  could  trace  it  to  the 
Vikings  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries, 
many  of  their  great  warriors  believing  in  it. 

General  Grant,  surrounded  by  those  he 
knew  well,  always  did  two-thirds  of  the  talk- 
ing. He  was  a  reticent  and  diffident  man  in 
general  company,  and  it  was  not  until  ho 


88  Recollections. 

was  out  of  the  Presidency  that  he  became  a 
public  speaker.  He  told  a  story  that  he  was 
once  notified  that  he  was  expected  to  make  a 
speech  in  reply  to  a  sentiment  given  him,  and 
he  looked  it  over  and  wrote  his  answer  care- 
fully, but  when  he  got  up  he  was  stricken 
dumb.  He  utterly  lost  himself,  and  could  not 
say  a  w^ord.  After  that  he  did  not  want  to 
hear  what  was  going  to  be  said,  and  never 
prepared  anything.  Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton 
told  me  that,  in  going  to  Liverpool  and  Man- 
chester with  General  Grant,  a  committee 
came  down  to  meet  the  general  and  brought 
a  report  of  what  they  intended  to  say,  for  his 
inspection.  He  said,  "  ^N'o,  I  have  had  one 
experience  in  that  line.  I  don't  want  to  see 
it."  The  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop  writes 
to  me,  "  What  you  say  of  his  early  reticence 
reminds  me  that  I  had  to  make  two  speeches 
for  him  in  the  early  days  of  the  Peabody 
Education  Trust.  One  of  them  was  in  the 
tobacco-factory  at  Baltimore,  and  the  other 
on  my  door-steps  here  at  Brookline,  when 
our  village  band  came  up  to  serenade  him. 
He  would  not  go  to  the  door  unless  I  would 
promise  to  acknowledge  the  compliment  for 
him." 

The  last  speech  he  ever  made  was  at  Ocean 
Grove.     Governor  Oglesby,  of  Illinois,  was 


General  Grant.  89 

staying  with  him  at  his  cottage  at  Long 
Branch.  George  H.  Stuart,  who  was  one 
of  his  earliest  and  clearest  friends,  came  up 
to  ask  him  if  he  would  go  down  to  Ocean 
Grove.  Prior  to  this  invitation  he  had  not 
appeared  in  public  since  his  misfortunes.  He 
was  then  lame,  from  a  fall  on  the  ice  as  he 
was  leavinof  his  carrias^e  at  his  residence  in 
Xew  York  on  Christmas-eve,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  use  crutches  until  his  death.  Upon 
reachino;:  Ocean  Grove  he  found  ten  thou- 
sand  people  assembled.  They  rose  en  masse 
and  cheered  with  a  vigor  and  unanimity  very 
uncommon  in  a  relio:ious  assemblao:e.  This 
touched  him  profoundly,  for  it  was  evidence 
that  the  popular  heart  was  still  with  him. 
He  arose  to  make  acknowledgment,  but  after 
saying  a  few  words  he  utterly  broke  down, 
and  the  tears  trickled  down  his  cheeks. 
That  was  the  last  time  he  ever  appeared  in 
public. 

Speaking  of  Ocean  Grove,  General  Grant 
always  evinced  great  interest  in  its  progress 
and  success,  and  often  took  part  in  the  re- 
lio^ious  exercises  there.  While  at  Lone: 
Branch  he  and  his  family  attended  the  Meth- 
odist church  in  the  village,  and  since  his 
death  a  large  memorial  window  of  stained 

glass  has  been  placed  in  the  chancel.     He 

8* 


90-  Recollections. 

sometimes  went  to  the  Episcopal  chapel  at 
Elberon,  in  which  a  brass  memorial  tablet 
has  been  placed.  It  bears  the  following 
inscription,  prepared,  at  my  request,  by  the 
Hon.  Eobert  C.  Winthrop : 

IN  MEMOKY  OF 

The  Virtues  and  Valor 
of 
ULYSSES  S.   GRANT, 
General  of  the  Union  Army, 
and 
President  of  the  United  States. 
Born  27th  April,  1822. 
Died  23d  July,  1885. 
A  few  of  his  friends  erect  this  tablet,  as  a  token  of 
their  affection,  while  the  whole  country  does  homage 
to  his  career  and  character. 

I  remember  that  in  1884  I  was  notified 
that  a  number  of  scientists  would  meet  in 
Montreal  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  at- 
tend a  convention.  Sir  William  Thomson, 
Lord  Rayleigh,  and  others,  who  were  to  be 
my  guests,  asked  whether  I  would  present 
them  to  General  Grant.  Some  of  them  had 
met  him.  Of  course  I  was  vQvy  glad  to 
introduce  them.  I  said  to  him  in  the  morn- 
ing, "  General,  the  scientists  from  Canada 
are  coming  down  here,  and  they  are  very 
anxious  to  pay  their  respects  to  you. "   *'  Oh," 


General  Grant  91 

he  replied,  "  I  have  met  some  of  these  people 
abroad :  I  will  be  very  glad  to  see  them." 
They  came  to  my  house,  and  we  walked 
across  the  lawn  to  the  general's.  He  sat  on 
the  piazza,  not  being  able  to  stand  alone 
without  the  use  of  crutches,  and  was  pre- 
sented to  every  one  of  them,  shaking  hands 
with  each.  He  would  say  to  one  gentleman, 
"•  How  are  you,  professor  ?  I  met  you  in 
Liverpool ;"  and  to  another,  "  Why,  how 
are  you?  I  met  you  in  London;"  and,  "I 
am  glad  to  see  you ;  I  met  you  in  Manches- 
ter." So  he  recognized  each  of  these  visitors 
as  soon  as  he  laid  eyes  on  him.  Many  of 
them  said  to  me  afterwards,  in  speaking  of 
the  incident,  "  Why,  I  only  met  him  casually 
with  a  party  of  people." 

This  power  of  recognition  was  remarkable. 
I  subsequently  asked  him  whether  he  had 
lost  the  power;  he  answered,  "  ^o,  I  have 
not  lost  the  power.  If  I  fix  my  mind  on  a 
person,  I  never  forget  him;  but  I  see  so  many 
that  I  don't  always  do  it."  I  can  give  a  re- 
markable instance  of  his  memory  of  persons. 
During  one  of  the  times  that  he  was  staying 
with  me  in  Philadelphia  we  were  walking 
down  Chestnut  Street  together,  and  just  as 
we  arrived  in  front  of  a  large  jeweller's 
establishment  a  lady  came  out  of  the  store 


92  ,   Recollections. 

and  was  about  to  enter  her  carriage.  General 
Grant  walked  up  to  her,  shook  hands  with 
her,  and  put  her  in  the  carriage.  "  General, 
did  you  know  that  lady?"  "Oh,  yes,"  he 
replied;  "I  know  her."  "Where  did  you 
see  her  ?"  "  Well,  I  saw  her  a  good  many 
years  ago  out  in  Ohio  at  a  hoarding-school. 
She  was  one  of  the  girls  there."  "  Did  you 
never  see  her  before  or  since?"  He  said, 
*'E'o."  The  lady  was  the  daughter  of  a 
very  prominent  Ohio  man,  Judge  Jewett, 
and  the  next  time  we  met  she  said,  "  I  sup- 
pose you  told  General  Grant  who  I  was."  I 
replied,  "I  did  not."  "Why,  that  is  very 
remarkable,"  she  answered,  in  a  tone  of  sur- 
prise; "I  was  one  of  two  or  three  hundred 
girls,  and  only  saw  him  at  school.  I  have 
never  seen  him  since." 

I  remember  an  amusing  incident  which 
occurred  v»^hen  the  English  banker  Mr. 
Hope,  with  his  wife  and  three  children,  w^as 
visiting  me  at  Long  Branch.  The  children 
wanted  to  see  the  general,  so  one  day  they 
were  taken  over  and  presented  to  him. 
When  they  came  back  and  were  asked 
whether  they  had  seen  him,  one  of  them 
replied,  in  a  rather  disappointed  tone,  "  Yes ; 
but  he  had  no  crown." 

During  one  of  his  visits  at  Wootton,  my 


General  Grant.  93 

country-seat,  lie  planted,  on  October  16, 
1882,  an  oak,  and  always  held  it  in  remem- 
brance. Just  before  his  death  he  asked  me 
if  the  tree  was  flourishing.  One  day  when 
we  were  at  Wootton  together  he  remarked 
what  a  beautiful  place  it  was,  adding  that  it 
seemed  a  pity  to  him  that  its  beauty  should 
be  spoiled  by  bad  roads.  Acting  on  this 
hint,  the  roads  round  about  the  neighbor- 
hood were  Telforded. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

GENERAL    GRANT. — (CONTINUED.) 

Fondness  for  Horses — The  "Personal  Memoirs" — The 
Indian  Commission — Generals  Halleck  and  Fitz-John 
Porter — Grant's  Fatal  Disease. 

General  Grant  was  very  fond  of  horses, 
and  was  a  thorouo^h  horseman.  While  a 
cadet  at  West  Point  he  was  always  called 
upon  whenever  a  horse  was  unmanageable, 
and  he  never  failed  to  subdue  the  most 
vicious  or  fractious  animal.  In  earlv  life 
he  rode  a  great  deal,  but  after  he  left  the 
army  he  generally  drove  a  pair  of  spirited 
horses ;  sometimes,  when  he  had  a  favorite 
fast  horse,  he  drove  singly.  With  all  his 
liking  for  horses,  he  could  never  be  induced 
to  attend  a  race,  or  to  bet  on  a  horse.  At 
aojricultural  fairs  of  course  he  witnessed  and 
enjoyed  seeing  horses  trotting  or  running. 
The  last  horse  General  Grant  owned  and 
drove  was  the  mare  "  Silver,"  now  twenty 
years  old  and  in  good  condition.  I  have  her 
at  Wootton,  with  her  two  colts,  Julia  and 

94 


General  Grant.  95 

Ida,  sired  by  "  Kentucky  Prince,"  the  horse 
for  which  lifty  thousand  dollars  were  ofi'ered. 
On  his  sick-bed  the  general  longed  to  see 
them. 

As  to  General  Grant's  power  of  thinking 
and  of  expressing  his  thoughts,  he  wrote 
with  great  facility  and  clearness.  His  Cen- 
tennial Address,  at  the  opening  of  the  Ex- 
hibition in  1876,  was  prepared  at  my  house, 
and  there  were  only  two  or  three  corrections 
in  the  whole  manuscript.  Soon  after  his 
arrival  in  Encrland  he  wrote  me  a  letter  of 
fourteen  pages,  giving  an  account  of  his 
reception  in  that  country.  The  same  post 
that  brought  the  letter  contained  another 
from  Mr.  John  Walter,  proprietor  of  the 
London  Times,  saying  that  he  had  seen  our 
mutual  friend  General  Grant  on  several  oc- 
casions, and  wondered  how  he  was  pleased 
with  his  reception  in  England.  The  letter 
which  I  had  received  was  so  a  projpos  that  I 
telegraphed  it  over  that  very  day  to  the 
London  Times, — fourteen  pages  of  manu- 
script,— without  one  word  of  alteration,  and 
that  journal  next  morning  published  this 
letter  with  an  editorial  on  it.  It  happened 
that  the  cablegram  arrived  in  London  the 
very  night  the  general  was  going  through 
the  London  Times  office  to  view  the  establish- 


96  Recollections. 

meat.  In  the  letter  he  said  he  thought  the 
English  people  admirable,  and  he  was  deeply 
sensible  of  the  unexpected  attention  and 
kindness  shown  him.  The  letter  contained 
these  lines,  "  It  has  always  been  my  desire 
to  see  all  jealousy  between  England  and  the 
United  States  abated,  and  all  sores  healed 
up.  Together  they  are  more  powerful  for 
the  spread  of  commerce  and  civilization 
than  all  others  combined,  and  can  do  more 
to  remove  the  cause  of  wars  by  creating 
mutual  interests  that  would  be  so  much  dis- 
turbed by  war,  than  all  other  nations."  The 
letter  was  written  privately  to  me,  he  not 
supposing  that  it  would  ever  be  put  in  print, 
and  not  one  word,  as  I  have  said,  had  to  be 
altered.  I  cite  this  to  show  General  Grant's 
facility  in  writing. 

The  necessity  of  earning  some  money  in- 
duced him  to  write  the  series  of  admirable 
articles  for  the  Century  Magazine.  Upon 
their  appearance  I  urged  him,  as  did  other 
friends  of  his,  to  expand  them  into  a  sym- 
metrical and  continuous  narrative.  Thus, 
had  it  not  been  for  his  financial  reverses, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  American  litera- 
ture would  have  been  enriched  with  his 
"  Personal  Memoirs,"  a  book  of  surpassing 
interest,  which  has  enjoj-ed  the  largest  cir- 


General  Grant.  97 

culation  and  3'ielcled  the  largest  copyright 
(over  four  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand 
dollars)  of  any  work  issued  in  modern  times. 
Just  hefore  his  death  the  general  requested 
Mrs.  Grant  to  send  me  his  "  Memoirs,"  and 
as  soon  as  the  work  was  published  Colonel 
Grant  sent  me  a  handsomely  bound  copy 
with  a  very  kind  note. 

The  man  wlio  was  perhaps  nearer  to  him 
than   any  other   in   his    Cabinet  was  Hon. 
Hamilton  Fish.     Grant  had  the  greatest  re- 
gard, for  his  judgment.     It  was  more  than 
friendship — it  was  genuine  afiection  which 
existed  between  them,  and  General  Grant 
always  appreciated  Mr.  Fish's  remaining  in 
his  Cabinet,  because  Mr.  Fish,  had  he  been 
governed  by  his  personal  interests,  would 
not   have    done   so.     I  know   that    it   Avas 
General    Grant's   desire   to   have    him    his 
successor  in  the   Presidency.     Mrs.  Fish's 
influence  and  example  were  very  great  in 
Washington,   and  she  left   an    impress   on 
society  there  which  is  felt  to  this  day.     She 
was  a  typical  American  woman.     A  strong 
friendship  existed  between  Mrs.  Grant  and 
Mrs.  Fish,  and  their  united  kind  acts,  and 
many  good  deeds,  will  be  long  remembered 
in  Washino^ton. 

"When,  in   1865,  after  the  surrender    of 

E  <7  9 


98  liecollectlons. 

General  Lee  at  Appomattox,  General  Grant 
went  to  Washington  to  superintend  the  dis- 
bandment  of  the  army,  he  found  the  national 
capital,  as  it  always  had  been,  a  city  of  mag- 
nificent distances.  Its  long,  broad  avenues 
and  streets  seemed  by  their  rough  condition 
to  increase  and  render  more  conspicuous 
these  distances.  The  tramp  of  cavalry,  the 
almost  continuous  movement  of  trains  of 
heavy  artillery  and  ammunition-  and  bag- 
gage-wagons had,  assisted  by  the  recurring 
winters'  alternate  freezings  and  thawings, 
reduced  them  to  a  condition  little  better 
than  that  of  the  rough,  rude  trails  left  by 
the  Arm}'  of  the  Potomac  on  its  march 
upon  the  Confederate  capital. 

They  were  still  in  this  neglected  state  in 
1868  when  General  Grant  was  elected  Presi- 
dent, and  when,  in  the  following  year,  he 
was  inaugurated,  he  manifested  the  strongest 
public  interest  in  designs  for  their  improve- 
ment, and  spoke  to  me  very  strongly  on  the 
subject.  Indeed,  it  may  justly  be  said,  that 
the  concern  he  evinced  reccardino^  the  noble 
avenues  and  spacious  streets  of  Washington 
was  the  inspiring  cause  which  eventually  led 
to  their  improvement.  The  subject  was  an 
eno-rossino^  one  to  him,  and  he  made  it  the 
frequent  tlieme  of  his  conversation.     Gen- 


General  Grant.  99 

eral  Grant's  far-seeing  wisdom  was  conspic- 
uously demonstrated  in  this  matter.  He 
maintained  that  the  national  capital  should, 
and  under  favorable  conditions  would,  be- 
come the  winter  Saratoga — the  social  centre 
— of  the  entire  country.  He  felt  so  strong!}^ 
and  spoke  with  such  earnestness  regarding 
the  necessity  of  improving  the  city  as  to 
finally  impress  the  importance  of  it  upon 
the  minds  of  those  who  had  the  authority 
to  give  practical  realization  to  his  sugges- 
tions. 

Inspired  by  his  public  spirit  and  the  inter- 
est he  showed  in  its  consummation,  the  work 
of  improvement  was  begun,  and  when  it  was 
finished,  upon  the  intelligent,  generous  plan 
Avhich  was  adopted,  the  avenues  and  streets 
which  had  been  as  country  roads,  ploughed 
into  deep  ruts  by  artillery,  and  roughened 
by  the  action  of  innumerable  frosts  and  suns, 
were  so  well  graded  and  paved  as  to  vie  with 
those  of  the  noblest  highways  of  Old  World 
capitals.  Washington  is  still  a  city  of  mag- 
nificent distances,  but  so  great  and  many 
were  the  improvements  made  during  Presi- 
dent Grant's  administration  as  to  susrorest  not 
so  much  distance  as  magnificence,  for  as  its 
noble  highways  were  extended,  broadened, 
made   smooth   and   pleasant   to   the    sight, 


100  RecoUedions. 

noble  maTisions  were  built  upon  them,  and 
General  Grant's  prediction  of  the  capital 
becoming  the  winter  social  centre  of  the 
country  was  realized.  The  imposing  im- 
provements which  were  made,  and  which 
were  largely  inspired  by  him,  render  Wash- 
ington a  particularly  attractive  city  to  which 
the  representatives  of  the  nation's  wealth  and 
refinement  are  drawn.  There  was  nothinir 
more  characteristic  of  General  Grant  than 
his  public  spirit,  which  was  so  strongly  dis- 
played in  the  transformation  from  incon- 
venience and  ugliness  to  comfort  and  beauty 
of  the  avenues  and  streets  of  Washincrton. 

With  regard  to  the  treatment  of  the 
Indians,  he  informed  me  that,  as  a  young 
lieutenant,  he  had  been  thrown  amonor-  them, 
and  had  seen  the  unjust  treatment  they  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  the  white  men.  He 
then  made  up  his  mind  that  if  he  ever  had 
any  influence  or  power  it  should  be  exercised 
to  try  to  ameliorate  their  condition.  The 
Indian  Commission  was  his  own  idea.  He 
wished  to  appoint  the  very  best  men  in  the 
United  States.  He  selected  William  Welsh, 
of  Philadelphia,  William  E.  Dodge,  of  ^ew 
York,  Felix  Brunot,  of  Pittsburgh,  Colonel 
Robert  Campbell,  of  St.  Louis,  and  George 
H.  Stuart,  of  Philadelphia.     They  composed 


General  Grant.  101 

the  Indian  Commission  which  he  had  worked 
hard  to  establish,  and  thej  always  could 
count  upon  him  to  aid  them  in  every  pos- 
sible way.  He  always  took  the  greatest 
interest  in  the  Commission.  Even  to  his 
last  moments  he  attentively  watched  its 
progress.  It  was,  at  all  times,  a  very  diffi- 
cult affair  to  handle,  especially  as  there  was 
a  powerful  Indian  ring  to  break  up. 

He  was  of  a  very  kindly  nature,  generous 
to  a  fault.  I  would  often  remonstrate  with 
him,  and  say,  "  General,  you  can't  afford  to 
do  this,"  and  would  try  to  keep  people  away 
from  him.  On  one  occasion,  when  certain 
persons  wanted  him  to  contribute  to  an  im- 
portant matter,  which  I  did  not  think  he 
was  able  to  do,  I  would  not  let  them  go 
near  him.  He  was  reached,  however,  by 
some  injudicious  person,  and  he  subscribed 
a  thousand  dollars. 

General  Grant  venerated  his  mother,  and 
loved  his  family.  He  seemed  happiest  in 
his  home  circle,  surrounded  by  his  devoted 
and  loving  wife  and  his  children  and  grand- 
children. I  have  never  seen  an  instance  of 
greater  domestic  happiness  than  that  which 
existed  in  the  Grant  familv.  Perfect  love 
had  indeed  "  cast  out  fear,"  and  it  was 
delightful  to  see  his  grandchildren  romping 

9* 


1 02  Recollections, 

with  him,  and  saying  just  what  came  up- 
permost in  their  thoughts  in  their  childish 
innocence. 

General  Grant  always  felt  that  he  had 
been  badly  treated  by  General  Ilalleck,  but 
he  rarely  spoke  harshly  of  any  one.  During 
one  of  my  last  visits  to  him  he  showed  me 
his  army  orders,  which  he  had  kept  in  books. 
He  had  a  copy  of  everything  he  ever  did  or 
said  in  regard  to  army  matters.  He  w^as 
very  careful  about  that,  and  had  written  all 
the  orders  with  his  own  hand.  He  pointed 
to  one  of  this  large  series  of  books,  and  said 
that  it  was  fortunate  that  he  had  kept  these 
things,  because  several  of  the  orders  could 
not  be  found  on  any  record  in  the  War 
Department.  During  our  long  friendship  I 
never  heard  him  more  than  two  or  three 
times  speak  unkindly  of  Halleck,  although 
he  had  been  very  unjustly  treated  by  him, 
— as  is  borne  out  by  the  records. 

I  told  him  of  somethino^  that  I  had  learned 
in  connection  with  the  officer  in  charge  of 
the  war  records  at  Washington.  That  offi- 
cer had  been  a  strong  friend  of  Halleck, 
and  was  prejudiced  against  General  Grant, 
and  was  in  the  office  where  all  these  things 
passed  through  his  hands.  But  after  twenty 
years  of  examination,  he  said  that  there  was 


General  Grant.  103 

not  a  line  relating:  to  Grant  which  would  not 

CD 

elevate  him  in  the  minds  of  thinking  people. 

It  was  throuo:h  me  that  General  Grant 
first  went  to  Long  Branch.  He  always  en- 
joyed being  there,  and  said  that  he  had 
never  seen  a  place  in  all  his  travels  w^hich 
was  better  suited  for  a  summer  residence. 
He  drove  out  twice  a  day,  and  knew  every 
by-w^ay  within  twenty  miles.  It  was  his 
habit  to  drive  out  every  morning  after 
breakfast  for  a  long  distance,  and  then  he 
would  come  home  and  read  the  papers  or 
any  books  he  might  have  on  hand.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  companionable  of  men ;  to- 
tally unspoiled  by  all  the  honors  conferred 
upon  him.  He  was  simple,  unaffected,  and 
attached  everybody  to  him.  He  was  very 
careful  in  answering  his  correspondence. 
Most  of  the  letters  received  were  beo^o^ino: 
letters  of  some  kind  or  other,  and  I  remem- 
ber an  incident  showing  his  justness  and 
tenderness  of  heart. 

Once  he  had  two  cases  of  petition.  He 
said,  "  I  did  a  thing  to-day  that  gave  me 
great  pleasure.  There  was  a  poor  Irish- 
woman who  had  a  boy  in  the  army,  and  she 
came  down  from  ^N^ew  York  and  spent  all 
her  money.  She  had  lost  several  of  her 
boys  in  the  war,  and  this  one  she  wished 


104  Recollections. 

to  get  out  of  the  service  to  help  support  her. 
I  gave  her  an  order,  and  was  very  glad  to 
do  it."  But  he  did  not  add  that  he  gave  her 
also  some  money,  which  was  the  case.  "  In 
contrast  to  that  there  was  a  lady  of  a  very 
distinguished  family  of  New  York,  who  came 
here  and  wanted  me  to  remove  her  son  from 
Texas.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  army,  and 
I  told  her  I  could  not  do  that.  My  rich  peti- 
tioner then  said, '  Well,  could  you  not  remove 
his  resriment  ?'  This  would  have  involved  a 
cost  of  over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars." 
General  Grant  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to 
refuse  a  rich  woman's  unreasonable  request, 
but  it  gave  him  pleasure  to  grant  the  petition 
of  a  poor  friendless  Irishwoman. 

He  was  very  kind  to  the  poor,  and,  in  fact, 
to  everybody,  especially  to  widows  and  chil- 
dren of  army  officers.  I  gave  him  the  names 
of  quite  a  number  of  army  and  navy  officers' 
sons  for  appointment  in  the  navy  or  army. 
He  said,  "  I  am  glad  to  have  these.  I  like 
to  appoint  army  and  navy  men's  children, 
because  they  have  no  political  influence." 
IN'early  all  his  appointments  to  the  Military 
and  I^aval  Academies  were  the  children  of 
deceased  army  or  navy  officers,  young  men 
without  influence  to  get  in  at  West  Point  or 
Annapolis.    There  was  hardly  an  army  man. 


General  Grant.  105 

Confederate  or  Union,  who  was  not  a  friend 
of  General  Grant. 

For  General  Sheridan  he  had  an  affection- 
ate reo^ard,  and  I  have  often  heard  him  sav 
that  he  thought  Sheridan  the  greatest  fighter 
that  ever  lived,  and  if  there  should  be  an- 
other war  he  would  be  the  leader.  I  knew 
that  General  Sheridan  had  carefully  pre- 
served all  the  letters  he  had  received  from 
General  Grant,  and  I  asked  Mrs.  Sheridan 
to  let  me  have  them  arrano;ed  and  bound  for 

CD 

her,  which  she  did.     They  make  a  volume 
of  great  historical  value  and  interest. 

General  Grant  was  so  just  that  he  never 
excited  the  jealousy  or  enmity  of  army  men. 
When  mistaken  there  was  no  man  more 
ready  to  acknowledge  himself  in  error.  He 
was  always  accessible  and  courteous.  He 
showed  great  tenacity  in  sticking  to  friends 
lono^er  than  he  ouscht  to  have  done.  When- 
ever  I  spoke  to  him.  about  this  he  would 
answer,  "  Well,  if  I  believed  all  I  hear,  I 
would  believe  nearly  everybody  was  bad." 
General  Grant  would  say  there  was  hardly 
anybody  who  came  in  contact  with  him  who 
was  not  traduced,  and  that  he  very  often  had 
to  depend  upon  his  own  judgment  in  such 
cases.  One  of  his  expressions  was,  "  I^ever 
desert  a  friend  under  fire." 


106  Recollections. 

He  rarely  alluded  to  those  who  had  abused 
Ills  confidence,  even  in  conversation  with  his 
most  intimate  friends.  No  matter  how  much 
a  man  had  injured  him,  he  was  wont  to  say 
that  he  felt  at  the  end  what  he  niii^ht  have 
felt  at  the  outset. 

General  Grant  had  the  greatest  admiration 
for  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  and  Johns- 
ton for  him ;  and  when  it  was  first  proposed 
to  bring  up  the  retiring  bill,  Johnston,  who 
was  then  in  Congress,  was  to  take  the  initia- 
tive in  the  matter.  The  passage  of  that  bill 
gave  great  gratification  to  the  general.  I 
happened  to  be  with  him  on  the  4th  of 
March,  and  said,  "  General,  that  bill  of 
yours  will  pass  to-day."  "  Mr.  Childs,"  he 
said,  "  you  know  that  during  the  last  day  of 
a  session  everything  is  in  a  turmoil.  Such  a 
bill  cannot  possibly  be  passed."  ^'  Well,"  I 
said,  "  Mr.  Randall  assured  me  that  measure 
would  be  passed."  He  answered,  "  If  any- 
body in  the  world  could  pass  that  bill,  I  think 
Mr.  Randall  could.  But  I  don't  think  it  is 
at  all  likely,  and  I  have  given  up  all  expec- 
tation." While  I  was  talking  (this  was  about 
11.30  A.M.),  I  got  a  telegram  from  Mr.  A.  J. 
Drexel,  saying  that  the  bill  had  passed,  and 
the  general  seemed  exceedingly  gratified. 

I  remarked,  "  General,  the  part  that  some 


General  Grant  107 

of  the  members  took  in  the  matter  was  not 
justified."  "  Oh,  perhaps  they  thought  they 
were  ris^ht.  I  have  no  feelinc^  at  all :  I  am 
only  grateful  that  the  measure  has  been 
passed,"  he  answered.  Mrs.  Grant  came  in, 
and  I  said,  "  We  have  got  good  ne^vs  :  the 
bill  is  passed."  She  cried  out,  "  Hurrah ! 
our  old  commander  is  back."  In  answer  to 
a  remark  that  it  would  be  very  good  if  it 
could  be  dated  from  the  time  of  going  out, 
he  said,  ''  Oh,  no;  the  law  is  to  date  from 
the  time  one  accepts.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  war  I  saw  in  the  newspapers  that  I  was 
appointed  to  a  higher  rank,  and  wrote  on  at 
once  and  accepted  on  the  strength  of  the 
newspaper  report.  In  about  two  months' 
time,  through  red  tape,  I  got  my  appoint- 
ment, but  received  my  pay  from  the  time  I 
wrote  accepting  the  newspaper  announce- 
ment.    I  saved  a  month's  pay  by  that." 

As  to  General  Fitz-John  Porter's  case,  I 
spoke  to  him  during  the  early  stage  of  it,  at 
a  time  when  his  mind  had  been  prejudiced 
by  some  around  him,  and  when  he  was  very 
busv.  Afterwards,  when  he  looked  into  the 
matter,  he  said  he  was  only  sorry  that  he 
had  so  long  delayed  making  the  examina- 
tion he  should  have  made.  He  felt  that  if 
ever  a  man  had  been  treated  badly  Porter 


108  Recollections. 

was.  Ho  liad  examined  the  case  most  care- 
fully, gone  over  every  detail,  and  was  per- 
fectly satisfied  that  Porter  was  right.  lie 
wanted  to  do  everything  in  his  power  to 
have  him  righted,  and  his  only  regret  was 
that  he  had  neglected  the  case  so  long  and 
allowed  Porter  to  rest  under  injustice.  I 
had  General  Porter  to  meet  General  Grant 
at  dinner,  and  placed  them  together,  so  that 
they  could  talk  over  the  matter  for  the  first 
time. 

There  are  few  men  who  would  have  taken 
a  hack  track  as  General  Grant  did  so  pub- 
licly, so  determinedly,  and  so  consistently 
rio-ht  throuo^h.  I  had  several  talks  with  him 
in  resrard  to  General  Porter,  and  he  was  con- 
tinually  reiterating  his  regrets  that  he  had 
not  done  justice  to  him  when  he  had  the  op- 
portunity, lie  ran  counter  to  a  great  many 
of  his  political  friends  in  this  matter,  but  his 
mind  was  absolutely  clear  about  it.  Not  one 
man  in  a  thousand  would  go  back  on  his 
record  in  such  an  affair,  especially  when  he 
was  not  in  accord  with  the  Grand  Army  or 
his  strong  political  friends.  General  Grant 
went  into  the  question  most  carefully,  and 
liis  publications  show  how  thoroughly  he 
examined  the  subject,  and  he  never  wavered 
after  his  mind  was  settled.     Then  he  set  to 


General  Grant.  109 

work  to  repair  the  injury  clone  Porter.  It' 
General  Grant  had  had  time  to  examine  the 
case  while  he  was  President,  he  w^ould  have 
carried  through  a  measure  for  the  relief  of 
Porter.  That  he  had  not  done  so  was  his 
2:reat  reo;ret.  He  felt  that  while  he  had 
power  he  could  have  passed  it  and  ought  to 
have  done  so.  "When  General  Grant  took 
pains  and  time  to  look  into  a  subject,  no 
amount  of  personal  feeling  or  friendship  for 
others  would  keep  him  from  doing  the  right 
thino^.  He  could  not  be  swerved  from  the 
right  in  any  case. 

Another  marked  trait  of  his  character  was 
his  purity  in  every  way.  I  never  heard  him 
express  an  impure  thought  or  make  an  in- 
delicate allusion.  There  is  nothing  I  ever 
heard  him  say  that  could  not  be  repeated 
in  the  presence  of  Avomen.  He  never  used 
profane  language.  He  was  very  temperate 
in  eatino^  and  drinkiuii:.  In  his  own  fam- 
ily,  unless  guests  were  present,  he  seldom 
drank  wine.  If  while  he  was  President 
a  man  were  urged  for  an  appointment, 
and  it  was  shown  that  he  was  an  immoral 
man,  he  would  not  appoint  him,  no  matter 
how  great  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  by 
friends. 

He  had  no  fondness  for  music,  nor  could 

10 


110  Recollections. 

he  remember  a  tune  or  note,  with  perhaps 
the  single  exception  of  "  Hail  to  the  Chief," 
which  he  had  heard  so  often  during*  and  after 
the  war.  Ilis  old  friend,  Hon.  Hamilton 
Fish,  writes  to  me,  "  I  do  not  think  that 
the  general  knew  '  Hail  to  the  Chief;'  he 
did  know,  or  thought  that  he  knew,  '  Yankee 
Doodle.'  "  My  friend,  Mr.  Robert  C.  Win- 
throp,  says  in  a  recent  letter,  "  Your  allusion 
to  his  insensibility  to  music,  and  to  the  saying 
of  Governor  Fish,  recalls  General  Grant's 
remark  to  me,  when  I  was  sitting  next  to 
him  at  a  concert  in  Baltimore  at  the  Pea- 
body  Institute  :  '  Why,  Mr.  Winthrop,  I  only 
know  two  tunes.  One  is  Yankee  Doodle, 
and  the  other  isn''t.'  " 

General  Grant  was  robust,  blessed  with 
general  good  health,  and  great  powers  of 
endurance.  He  was  a  small  eater,  and  could 
sleep  more  or  less  at  any  time,  or  could  do 
without  sleep  and  food,  for  a  long  period, 
without  inconvenience.  He  never  ate  any- 
thing rare ;  everything  had  to  be  thoroughly 
cooked.  Some  time  after  the  war  he  told  me 
that  he  thought  he  was  failing  physically. 
I  asked  him  why.  He  answered  by  saying 
he  could  no  longer  do  without  eating  or 
sleeping  for  forty-eight  hours  without  feel- 
ing it.     During  the  war  he  often  passed  two 


General  Grant.  Ill 

days  and  nights  without  tasting  food  or  lying 
down  to  sleep. 

General  Grant  would  sit  in  my  library 
w^ith  four  or  five  others  chatting  freely,  and 
doing  perhaps  two-thirds  of  the  talking. 
Let  a  stranger  enter  whora  he  did  not  know, 
and  he  w^ould  say  nothing  more  while  the 
stranger  remained.  That  was  one  peculiar- 
ity of  his.  He  wouldn't  talk  to  people  un- 
less he  understood  them.  He  possessed  a 
great  deal  of  quiet  humor,  was  an  excellent 
story-teller,  was  full  of  anecdote,  and  en- 
joyed a  good  joke.  He  was  always  refined, 
and  would  not  tolerate  coarseness  in  others. 
At  a  dinner-party  among  intimate  friends  he 
would  lead  in  the  conversation,  but  any  alien 
element  would  seal  his  tons^ue.  This  o^reat 
shyness  or  reticence  sometimes  caused  him 
to  be  misunderstood. 

When  his  attention  was  first  directed  to  his 
fatal  disease,  he  told  me  that  he  had  a  dry- 
ness in  his  throat,  which  seemed  to  trouble 
him,  and  that  whenever  he  ate  a  peach,  a 
fruit  of  which  he  was  very  fond,  he  always 
suftered  pain.  I  said  that  Dr.  Da  Costa,  of 
Philadelphia,  one  of  the  most  eminent  physi- 
cians of  the  country,  was  coming  to  Long 
Branch  to  spend  a  few  days  with  me ;  that  he 
was  an  old  friend ;    and  that  he  would  be 


112  Rccollccticms, 

glad  to  look  into  the  matter.  Dr.  Da  Costa, 
on  arriving,  went  over  with  me  to  the  gen- 
eral's house,  examined  his  throat  carefully, 
gave  a  prescription,  and  asked  the  general 
who  his  family  physician  was.  He  replied. 
Dr.  Fordyce  Barker,  of  I^ew  York,  and  he 
was  advised  to  see  him  at  once.  I  could  see 
that  the  general  was  suffering  a  good  deal, 
though  he  was  uncomplaining.  During  the 
summer  he  several  times  asked  me  if  I  had 
seen  Dr.  Da  Costa,  and  seemed  anxious  to 
know  exactly  what  was  the  matter  with  him. 
Dr.  Da  Costa  knew  at  once  the  disease  was 
cancer,  and  when  Dr.  Barker  came  to  confer 
with  him  in  regard  to  General  Grant  he  so 
told  him.  General  Grant,  after  he  got  worse, 
said  to  me,  "  I  want  to  go  to  Philadelphia 
and  stay  a  few  days  with  you,  and  have  a 
talk  with  Dr.  Da  Costa."  He  was  not  afraid 
of  the  disease  after  he  knew  all  about  it, 
and  the  last  time  I  saw  him,  just  before  he 
went  to  Mount  McGregor,  he  said,  "  ;N"ow, 
Mr.  Childs,  I  have  been  twice  within  half 
a  minute  of  death.  I  realize  it  fully,  and 
my  life  was  only  preserved  by  the  skill  and 
attention  of  my  physicians.  I  have  told 
them  the  next  time  to  let  me  oro." 

The  general  had  great  will-power,  and  the 
determination  to  finish  his  book  kept  him 


General  Grant.  113 

up.  He  quickly  made  up  his  mind  that  his 
disease  would  prove  fatal,  but  he  was  reso- 
lute to  live  until  his  work  was  done.  He 
said,  "  If  I  had  been  an  ordinary  man,  I 
would  have  been  dead  long  ago." 

In  o-ood  health  General  Grant  would 
smoke  a  dozen  very  large,  strong  cigars  a 
day  ;  but  he  could  stop  smoking  at  any  time. 
He  told  me  that  towards  the  latter  part  of 
the  summer  of  1884  he  was  smoking  fewer 
and  milder  cigars,  perhaps  two  or  three  a 
day.  In  February  of  1885  he  expected  to 
pay  me  a  visit.  He  wrote,  saying,  "  The 
doctor  will  not  allow  me  to  leave  until  the 
weather  gets  warmer.  I  am  now  quite  well 
in  every  way,  except  a  swelling  of  the  tongue 
above  the  root,  and  the  same  thing  in  the 
tonsils  just  over  it.  It  is  very  difficult  for  me 
to  swallow  enough  to  maintain  my  strength, 
and  nothing  gives  me  so  much  pain  as  to 
swallow  water."  I  asked  him  about  that, 
and  he  said,  "  If  you  could  imagine  what 
molten  lead  would  be  going  down  your 
throat,  that  is  what  I  feel  when  I  am  swal- 
lowing." In  that  letter  he  further  said,  "I 
have  not  smoked  a  cis^ar  since  about  the  20th 
of  IN'ovember;  for  a  day  or  two  I  felt  as 
though  I  would  like  to  smoke,  but  after  that 

I  never  thought  of  it." 
h         "  10* 


114  Recollections. 

General  Grant  always  retained  a  warm 
interest  in  West  Point,  and  favored  it  greatly 
while  President.  He  left  a  written  memo- 
randum requesting  that  his  grandson, Ulysses 
Grant,  son  of  Colonel  Fred.  D.  Grant,  should 
be  educated  at  West  Point,  provided  he  could 
secure  an  appointment  to  enter  the  Academy 
as  a  cadet.  Speaking  on  one  or  two  occa- 
sions of  the  burial  of  soldiers,  he  observed 
that  his  old  chief.  General  Scott,  was  buried 
at  West  Point,  and  that  he  would  like  to  be 
buried  there  also.  This  was  some  years  be- 
fore his  death,  and  mentioned  merely  in 
casual  conversation.  I  think  it  might  have 
been  alluded  to  incidentally  once  or  twice 
afterwards. 

His  wishes  in  re2:ard  to  his  final  restins^- 
place  may  be  gathered  from  the  subjoined 
interesting  correspondence  taken  from  the 
ITew  York  World  of  September  29,  1889. 

"  The  World  has  received  the  following 
letter  from  Colonel  Frederick  D.  Grant, 
United  States  Minister  to  Austria,  relative 
to  recent  suggestions  that  the  body  of  his 
father  be  removed  from  Riverside  Park.  It 
will  be  read  with  great  interest  by  all  the 
friends  of  the  great  general,  and  gives  new 
and  pathetic  facts  concerning  General  Grant's 
wishes  as  to  his  burial-place : 


General  Grant.  115 

"  U.  S.  Legation,  Vienna,  Austria, 

"September  13,  1889. 

"  To  THE  Editor  of  Tee  AVorld  : 

"  Two  evenings  ago  I  received  your  mes- 
sage by  cable,  which  was  as  follows : 

" '  Press  agitating  question  of  removing 
General  Grant's  remains  to  WashinsTton  or 
Illinois.  What  is  the  sentiment  of  the  widow 
and  family  ?  The  World.' 

"  I  have  answered  you  by  cable  that  I 
would  write  to  you  in  reply.  I  carried  your 
cablegram  home  with  me  and  read  it  to  my 
mother,  who  is  now  visiting  me.  She  and 
I  unite  in  expressing  appreciation  of  the 
interest  which  is  shown  by  the  American 
people  in  the  tomb  of  General  Grant,  which 
is  now  in  the  city  of  Xew  York,  owing  to 
the  following  circumstances,  viz. : 

"  About  a  week  before  General  Grant's 
death  he  handed  me  a  paper  which  he  indi- 
cated that  he  would  like  me  to  read.  I 
found  its  contents  were  directions  in  res^ard 
to  his  own  burial,  the  note  being  in  about 
the  following  words,  which  I  quote  from 
memory  :  '  I  have  given  you  directions  about 
all  of  my  affairs  except  my  burial.  AVe  own 
a  burial-lot  in  the  cemetery  at  St.  Louis,  and 
I  like  that  city,  as  it  w^as  there  I  was  married 


116  Recollections. 

and  lived  for  many  years,  and  there  three 
of  my  children  were  born.  We  also  have  a 
burial-lot  in  Galena,  and  I  am  fond  of  Illi- 
nois, from  which  State  I  entered  the  army  at 
the  beo^innino^  of  the  war.  I  am  also  much 
attached  to  IS'ew  York,  where  I  have  made 
my  home  for  several  years  past,  and  through 
the  generosity  of  whose  citizens  I  have  been 
enabled  to  pass  my  last  days  without  experi- 
encing the  pains  of  pinching  want'  The 
last  sentence  seemed  to  indicate  that  a  burial- 
lot  mip^ht  be  purchased  in  Kew  York  City. 

'•  After  readino;  this  little  note  I  said,  *  It 
is  most  distressing  to  me,  father,  that  you 
think  of  this  matter,  but  if  we  must  discuss 
this  subject  and  you  desire  to  have  my  opin- 
ion, I  should  say  that  in  case  of  your  death 
Washington  would  probably  be  selected  for 
the  place  of  your  burial.'  Father  then  took 
back  the  paper  he  had  written  me,  which  he 
tore  up.  He  then  retired  to  his  own  room, 
but  soon  returned  and  handed  me  another 
little  note  (at  that  time  he  could  not  speak 
without  great  pain),  which  was  in  substance 
as  follows :  ^  It  is  possible  that  my  funeral 
may  become  one  of  public  demonstration, 
in  which  event  I  have  no  particular  choice 
of  burial-place  ;  but  there  is  one  thing  which 
I  would  wish  you  and  the  family  to  insist 


Genet^al  Grant,  117 

upon,  and  that  is  that,  wherever  my  tomb 
may  be,  a  pUice  shall  be  reserved  for  your 
mother  at  my  side.'  My  own  mention  of 
Washino^ton  seemed  to  have  reminded  Gen- 
eral  Grant  that  the  nation  might  Vv'ish  to  take 
part  in  his  funeral. 

"  Upon  the  death  of  General  Grant,  July 
23,  1885,  many  telegrams  were  immediately 
received,  containing  offers  from  various 
places  of  ground  for  his  last  resting-place. 
These  telegrams  being  considered  by  the 
widow  and  family,  it  was  soon  decided  that 
the  offer  made  by  iTew  York  was  the  most 
desirable  one,  as  it  included  the  guarantee 
which  General  Grant  had  desired  before  his 
death, — that  his  wife  should  be  provided 
with  a  last  resting-place  by  his  side, — there- 
fore this  offer  was  accepted. 

"  A  little  later  I  received  a  letter  from 
General  Robert  Macfeeley,  of  Washington, 
containing  an  authoritative  offer  of  a  site  in 
the  '  Soldiers'  Home,'  near  Washington,  as 
the  burial-place  of  my  father,  at  the  same 
time  promising  that  my  mother  and  family 
might  also  be  buried  there.  But  already 
the  matter  had  been  settled,  and  my  mother 
held  the  written  guarantee  of  iTew  York's 
mayor  that  upon  her  death  she  should  be 
placed  beside  her  husband.  General  Grant. 


118  Recollections. 

"  In  a  parting  letter  left  to  my  mother  by 
the  general  he  reiterated  what  he  had  said 
to  me,  mentioned  several  places  which  might 
be  available  for  his  burial,  but  expressed  as 
his  one  and  only  desire  that  she,  upon  her 
death,  should  rest  at  his  side. 

"  My  mother,  myself,  and  all  our  family 
feel  deep  gratitude  for  the  delicate  and  touch- 
ing attentions  paid  to  General  Grant's  mem- 
ory and  to  his  tomb  at  '  Riverside'  by  the 
citizens  of  Kew  York,  as  well  as  bv  the  citi- 
zens  of  other  States,  and  since  the  nation 
made  his  great  funeral,  and  wishes  to  build 
his  tomb,  they  were  and  are  ready  to  accede 
to  any  plan  for  his  tomb  which  the  nation 
may  decide  is  best,  provided,  of  course,  that 
his  expressed  wish  be  carried  out. 

"  Most  touching  of  all  to  my  mother  are 
the  loving  tributes  which  are  annually  placed 
upon  my  father's  tomb  by  his  old  comrades 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  by 
many  others  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
which  he  served  durins:  his  life. 

"  Yours,  very  sincerely, 

'^F.  D.  Grant." 

On  May  17,  1877,  General  Grant  began 
a  tour  of  the  world  in  company  with  Mrs. 
Grant,  that  had  long  been  one  of  their  cher- 


General  Grant  1 1 0 

ished  schemes.  From  the  day  of  his  depart- 
ure from  Philadelphia  until  his  return  in  the 
autumn  of  1879,  it  was  an  unceasing  ovation 
from  people,  emperors,  and  kings  and  rulers 
of  all  countries  and  nationalities.  The  best 
record  of  this  triumphal  progress  is  to  be 
found  in  the  two  beautiful  volumes,  "  Around 
the  World  with  General  Grant,"  by  John 
Russell  Young,  who  was  his  companion  from 
the  start  until  General  Grant  returned  to  the 
Pacific  slope.  In  making  his  preparations 
for  this  tour  General  Grant  had  no  idea  of 
the  reception  that  awaited  him,  and  it  was 
only  on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  while  he 
and  Mrs.  Grant  were  my  guests,  that  I  sug- 
gested the  necessity  of  his  taking  his  uni- 
form and  sword.  Uniform  General  Grant 
no  longer  owned,  but  one  was  soon  got  at 
Wanamaker's,  and  his  swords  were  all  de- 
posited in  Washington,  but  one  was  hastily 
sent  to  him.  Simple  in  this  as  in  all  his 
tastes  and  habits.  General  Grant  meant  to 
travel  as  an  American  citizen.  The  splendid 
popular  demonstration  given  him  by  way 
of  farewell  by  the  people  of  Philadelphia 
was,  however,  significant  of  the  reception 
that  awaited  him  at  every  stage  of  his  jour- 
ney around  the  world.  When  the  steamer 
"Indiana"  brought  him   to  Liverpool,  the 


1 20  Recollections, 

mayor  of  that  great  commercial  city  formally 
extended  its  civic  hospitalities  to  the  gen- 
eral; the  city  of  London  conferred  upon  him 
its  highest  honor,  the  freedom  of  the  city, 
and  this  example  was  followed  by  several  of 
the  other  chief  towns;  the  Queen  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales  entertained  him  and  his 
wife,  and  they  were  in  succession  the  guests 
of  ever}^  crowned  head  through  whose  do- 
minions they  passed.  In  France  and  Switz- 
erland, our  sister  republics,  he  was  heartily 
welcomed,  and,  although  he  travelled  as  a 
private  citizen,  everywhere  he  was  welcomed 
with  distinguished  honor.  All  of  this  he 
quietly  accepted  as  an  evidence  of  respect 
to  his  country,  for,  as  he  wrote  to  me,  he 
''loved  to  see  our  country  honored  and  re- 
spected abroad,"  and  he  had  helped  to  make 
it  so.  In  many  of  the  letters  which  I  re- 
ceived from  him  during  his  trip  around  the 
world,  the  sense  of  General  Grant  and  of 
Mrs.  Grant  that  the  honors  and  compliments 
paid  him  were  regarded  simply  as  a  tribute 
to  his  native  country  was  emphasized  with 
rare  modesty  and  delicacy.  In  the  East 
especially  General  Grant  was  made  the  re- 
cipient of  the  most  marked  attention.  In 
China  the  highest  authorities  of  the  empire 
showed  him  every  personal  and  official  cour- 


General  Grant  121 

tesy,  and  just  as  Bismarck  and  the  other 
great  European  statesmen  united  in  honor- 
ing him,  so  in  India  the  native  princes,  in 
China  the  viceroy,  Li  Hung  Chang,  and 
Prince  Kung,  and  in  Japan  from  the  Em- 
peror down,  all  welcomed  General  Grant  as 
the  greatest  American  citizen.  Indeed,  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  authorities  asked  him 
to  act  as  arbitrator  in  the  settlement  of 
their  disputes.  To  this  day  his  visit  is  re- 
ferred to  as  one  of  the  historical  events  in 
Japan,  and  recent  travellers  are  shown  tem- 
ples and  sacred  shrines  that  were  opened  to 
General  Grant,  hut,  as  before,  are  again 
closed  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  Fourth 
of  July  was  the  day  on  which  the  Emperor 
received  him. 

That  his  foreign  tour  is  still  affectionately 
remembered  abroad  is  shown  by  the  hearty 
welcome  2:1  ven  to  Colonel  Fred.  D.  Grant  in 
Vienna,  where  his  appointment  as  United 
States  Minister  by  President  Harrison  was 
received  as  a  special  mark  of  honor.  The 
Austrian  authorities  and  the  o^reat  world  of 
Vienna  join  in  doing  honor  to  the  son  as 
the  national  representative,  just  as  they  did 
to  the  father  in  his  capacity  of  private 
citizen. 

General  Grant  was  again  received  on  his 
V  11 


122  Recollections. 

return  home  by  the  strongest  demonstration 
of  popular  affection,  but  his  nature  remained 
simple  and  unspoiled  as  ever,  and  his  one 
constant  wish  was  to  be  permitted  to  live  a 
quiet,  unostentatious  life.  Most  of  the  won- 
derful and  unusual  gifts  which  all  the  coun- 
tries bestowed  on  him  were  sent  to  me  from 
time  to  time  to  be  cared  for,  and  finally  they 
Avere  deposited  by  him  for  safe-keeping  in 
the  National  Museum  at  Washington,  where 
they  are  still  an  object  of  interest  to  thou- 
sands of  his  countrymen.  General  Grant's 
journey  around  the  world  was  not  only  a 
source  of  great  pleasure  to  him,  but  it  did  a 
real  service  to  his  country  in  making  for- 
eigners of  all  nationalities  better  acquainted 
with  it. 

He  was  very  fortunate  in  his  travelling 
companions,  for  at  one  time  he  was  joined 
by  his  old  friend,  Mr.  Adolph  E.  Borie,  Sec- 
retary of  the  I^Tavy  in  his  first  Cabinet,  and 
his  nephew.  Dr.  J.  M.  Keating,  an  able  young 
physician,  of  Philadelphia,  who  printed  a 
very  graphic  account  of  their  visit  to  India. 
Colonel  Fred.  D.  Grant,  too,  made  one  of 
the  party  in  the  East,  and  thus  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  that  preparation  which  fitted 
him  so  well  for  his  present  ofiice  of  Minister 
to  Austria.     Mr.  John  Russell  Youns^  was 


General  Grant.  123 

with  tlie  general  through  the  whole  journey, 
and  he  was  a  very  welcome  addition  to  the 
party,  for  as  a  journalist  he  had  a  large 
knowledge  of  men  and  things,  and  the  gen- 
eral appreciated  his  great  merit  and  ability, 
an  appreciation  shown  by  his  appointment 
as  Minister  to  China,  wdiere  Mr.  Young 
showed  that  a  good  newspaper  man  was 
good  for  nearly  everything,  even  for  difficult 
and  delicate  diplomatic  duties,  l^o  man  ever 
saw  so  much,  was  so  honored,  feted,  and  en- 
tertained as  General  Grant  in  this  journey, 
and  none  ever  came  home  a  more  thoroughly 
good  citizen,  proud  of  his  country  and  happy 
to  be  able  to  live  and  die  under  its  flag. 

GENERAL  GRANT  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

General  Grant's  reception  in  Philadelphia 
on  his  return  from  his  tour  was  thus  noticed 
in  Harper's  Weekly  of  January  10,  1880 : 

*'  The  departure  of  General  Grant  on  his 
tour  around  the  w^orld  w^as  marked  by  a 
splendid  ovation  in  Philadelphia.  His  re- 
turn to  that  city  was  the  occasion  for  a  re- 
ception which  exceeded  even  that  splendid 
celebration  in  every  w^ay,  and  was  a  fitting 
close  to  a  round  of  honors  seldom  equalled 
in  the  history  of  any  other  hero  the  world 
has  ever  known.     On  both  these  occasions 


124  Recollections, 

General  Grant  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  George 
W.  Childs,  and  naturally  people  are  curious 
to  know  something  of  the  home  thus  hon- 
ored. It  is  a  stately  white  marhle  building 
at  the  corner  of  Walnut  and  Twenty-second 
Streets,  built  in  1872,  and  iirst  thrown  open 
to  the  world  by  a  reception  given  to  General 
and  Mrs.  Grant,  where  his  Cabinet  and  many 
of  the  men  and  women  of  note  in  the  Quaker 
City  were  gathered,  together  with  many  dis- 
tinguished persons  from  other  places.  The 
hospitality  thus  begun  has  been  continued 
from  that  time  onward,  and  the  house  is  full 
of  the  memories  of  great  assemblies  that 
have  met  within  its  walls. 

"  Passing  through  a  vestibule  richly  orna- 
mented with  fine  marble,  the  visitor  enters  a 
broad  hall  of  highly-polished  mahogany  and 
satin-wood,  the  walls  enriched  with  rare  Chi- 
nese cloisonne  plaques  and  vases,  and  finds 
on  his  rio^ht  a  librarv,  with  a  wealth  of  rare 
and  curious  books  and  manuscripts  that  have 
given  bibliographers  material  for  many  de- 
scriptions. On  the  walls  hang  portraits  of 
Georo-e  Peabodv,  A.  J.  Drexel,  Ilenrv  W. 
Longfellow,  and  the  Emperor  of  Brazil ;  on 
the  book-shelves  are  choice  editions  of  the 
great  authors,  many  of  them  enriched  with 
autographs  and  notes,  while  within  its  al- 


General  Grant  125 

coves  are  manuscripts  of  inestimable  value. 
The  collection  of  letters  bv  the  Presidents 
of  the  United  States  is  unequalled,  while 
amono^  its  other  treasures  are  such  rarities 
as  an  original  sermon  by  Cotton  Mather, 
complete  manuscripts  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
Dickens,  Thackeray,  and  Hawthorne,  Bry- 
ant's First  Book  of  the  Iliad,  and  letters  of 
Byron,  and  Moore,  and  Gray,  and  Burns, 
and  Pope,  and  Coleridge,  and  Schiller,  and 
Lamb.  On  the  other  side  of  the  hall  is  a 
large  drawing-room,  opening  into  a  music- 
room,  both  decorated  with  exquisite  taste, 
and  full  of  memorials  of  guests  who  have 
gathered  there  in  rapid  succession. 

"  Bevond  is  the  dinins^-room.  On  its  walls 
there  are  cabinets  filled  with  rare  china,  glass, 
and  silver-ware ;  and  a  wonderful  carving 
from  the  Black  Forest,  representing  the 
conversion  of  the  Germans,  is  appropriately 
mated  with  modern  French  bronzes  of  un- 
usual splendor.  Around  the  hospitable  table 
have  gathered  some  of  the  best  people  who 
have  visited  Philadelphia.  General  Grant 
has  been  a  frequent  guest,  and  around  him 
have  sat  the  generals  who  helped  him  to  save 
the  Union, — Sherman  and  Sheridan,  Meade 
and    Hancock,   McDowell    and    McClellan. 

Brazil  was  represented  there  by  its  Emperor 

11* 


126  Recollections. 

and  Empress,  whose  presence  gave  the  Cen- 
tennial Exhibition  at  least  a  continental  if 
not  a  universal  character.  England  has  been 
welcomed  there  in  its  ambassadors,  and 
noblemen  whose  titles  are  the  least  of  their 
honors,  such  as  Lord  DufFerin,  Lord  Rose- 
bery,  Lord  Houghton,  the  Earl  of  Caithness, 
and  Lord  Dunraven;  and  Dean  Stanley, 
Archdeacon  Farrar,  Matthew  Arnold,  and 
Charles  Kingsley,  Froude  and  Goldwin 
Smith,  Tyndall  and  Herbert  Spencer,  Henry 
Irving  and  Christine  Nilsson,  John  Walter 
and  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  have  shared  and 
appreciated  the  generous  greeting  given  them 
in  this  country.  Lideed,  Lord  Houghton  in 
his  article  describins;  his  visit  to  America, 
and  Stanley  in  his,  George  Augustus  Sala 
in  his  racy  letters  to  the  London  Telegraph, 
and  Dickens  in  his  letters,  and  Kingsley  in 
his,  have  made  all  the  world  witness  of  their 
enjoyment  of  Mr.  Childs's  hospitality.  Our 
own  best  American  men  and  women  have 
been  familiar  guests  around  the  well-spread 
table,  and  Longfellow^  and  Holmes,  Bancroft, 
Russell  Lowell,  and  Emerson,  George  Pea- 
body  and  his  successor  J.  S.  Morgan,  of 
London;  Chauncey  M.  Depew  and  George 
B.  Roberts,  Asa  Packer  and  Austin  Corbin; 
Cornelius  Yanderbilt  and  William  Waldorf 


General  Grant.  127 

Astor;  James  G.  Blaine,  James  A.  Bayard, 
and  Samuel  J.  Randall;  Bishop  Simpson, 
Bishop  Potter,  and  Cardinal  Gibbons ;  E,ev. 
Dr.  McCosh,  of  Princeton  College,  Andrew 
D.  White,  of  Cornell  University,  and  D.  C. 
Gilman,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  ;  Paul 
B.  Du  Chaillu ;  J.  II.  B.  Latrobe  and  Bev- 
erd}^  Johnson,  of  Baltimore;  Joseph  H. 
Choate  and  J.  Pierpont  Morgan ;  Anthony 
J.  Drexel  and  Francis  A.  Drexel ;  Henry 
Wilson  and  Hamilton  Fish ;  Professor  Jo- 
seph Henry  and  T.  A.  Edison,  have  led  the 
long  list  of  the  representatives  of  American 
genius  and  distinction  that  have  shared  in 
Mr.  Childs's  inexhaustible  hospitality. 

^'  A  broad  staircase,  with  noble  marble 
wainscot  and  ebony  rail,  leads  to  the  upper 
floors.  One  room  above,  the  family  sitting- 
room,  is  rich  in  photographs,  signed  by  the 
originals,  representing  many  of  the  guests 
who  have  shared  the  hearty  welcome  of  the 
house.  One  of  the  paintings  is  by  Ernest 
Longfellow,  the  son  of  our  great  poet,  and 
an  artist  who  gives  promise  of  making  a 
name  for  himself.  In  three  cabinets  there 
is  such  a  collection  of  rare  and  beautiful 
carvings  in  ivory  as  might  well  make  an 
observer  suppose  that  Mr.  Childs  had  de- 
voted all  his  time  to  the  study  of  this  curious 


128  Recollect  ions. 

» 

branch  of  art.  Throughout  the  house  there 
is  a  wealth  of  clocks,  each  with  its  own 
special  merit  of  artistic  beauty,  historical 
rarity,  famous  associations,  or  intrinsic  value, 
and  at  every  step  there  is  something  note- 
worthy. A  working  library  is  comfortably 
housed  in  a  quiet  nook  on  the  top  floor  of 
the  house,  and  there  the  student  might  find 
the  best  books  of  the  best  writers,  and 
material  for  almost  any  direction  of  literary 
investigation.  Here,  too,  there  is  an  organ 
and  a  musical  library  of  the  great  masters, 
showing  that  the  heavenly  art  is  diligently 
pursued  in  its  highest  form,  just  as  the  two 
grand  pianos  in  the  alcove  opening  out  of 
and  making  part  of  the  great  drawing-room 
•bear  evidence  to  the  fact  that  not  all  the  en- 
grossing cares  of  the  host  and  hostess,  nor 
the  manifold  charitable  claims  upon  their 
time  and  purse,  deprive  them  of  the  solace 
of  o^ood  music.  It  was  to  this  house  that  Gen- 
eral  Grant  returned  to  receive  the  hearty  wel- 
come of  his  Philadelphia  friends,  who  came 
to  pay  their  respects  to  Mr.  Childs's  guest  in 
quiet,  unostentatious,  friendly  fashion. 

"  In  this  same  house  General  Grant  wrote 
his  memorable  address  on  the  opening  of 
the  Exposition,  and  he  was  the  chief  at  a 
famous  gathering,  met  on  Mr.  Childs's  in- 


General  Grant,  129 

vitation,  on  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  May, 
1876,  to  celehrate  the  opening  of  the  Cen- 
tennial Exhibition.  The  President  of  the 
United  States  and  Mrs.  Grant,  all  the  mem- 
bers of  his  Cabinet,  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  the  leaders  of  Congress, 
the  governors  of  ten  or  a  dozen  States,  the 
chiefs  of  our  army  and  navy,  the  diplomatic 
representatives  of  all  the  foreign  countries 
in  this  country,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
of  Brazil,  the  numerous  and  distinguished 
foreign  Commissioners  to  the  Centennial, 
and  as  many  famous  men  from  all  parts  of 
this  country  and  all  its  varied  interests  and 
pursuits,  filled  the  great  halls  of  Mr.  Childs's 
house,  and  lent  to  the  Centennial  that  social 
side  which  went  so  far  to  make  its  success, 
and  to  secure  the  hearty  approval  of  its  thou- 
sands of  visitors.  On  a  different  occasion 
Mr.  Childs  brought  together  all  the  Centen- 
nial Commissioners, — their  name  was  legion, 
— and  their  wonderful  costumes,  striking 
decorations,  and  delightful  incongruity  of 
tongues  made  a  gathering  not  easily  de- 
scribed or  forgotten.  Chinamen  in  heavy 
stuffs,  and  with  the  pigtail,  the  peacock's 
feather,  and  the  mandarin's  mvsterious  but- 

7  \J 

ton ;  Japanese  in  uniform  that  showed  the 
baneful    effect  of  civilization    in  banishing 


1 30  Recollections. 

their  own  comfortable  and  easy  costumes; 
Egyptians  in  court  dresses  and  fez;  Euro- 
peans rich  in  orders ;  and  Americans  whose 
names  were  their  best  passports  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  crowded  the  mansion. 

"But  there  have  been   gatherings  there, 
fit  though  few,  which  have  had  even  greater 
interest  for  the  fortunate  guest.     Sir  Edwin 
Arnold,  as  well  as  Lord  Houghton's  anxiety 
to  meet  Walt  Whitman  was  gratified,  and 
the  English  poet-peer  there  sat  by  the  side 
of  the  American  poet  whose  wood-note  wild 
had  sounded  so  attractively  in  the  ear  of  his 
far-ofl*  reader.     Dean  Stanley  held  high  con- 
verse with  the  liberal  clergymen  of  all  types 
and  schools  of  theology,  and   shared  with 
them  in  discussing  the  methods  and  the  hope 
of  making  the  world  wiser  and  better  by  set- 
ting it  the  example  of  a  religion  broad  enough 
to  take  in  all  who  seek  to  make  life  purer 
and  nobler.     The  Marquis  de  Rochambeau 
was  welcomed  there  as  the  representative 
of  a  name  dear  to  every  American,  for  his 
ancestor  was  the  leader  of  the  French  allied 
force  that  helped  to  make  the  Revolution  and 
to  establish  the  independence  of  this  country, 
Charles  Francis  Adams  and  Edmund  Quincy, 
both  for  their  own  sakes  as  indefatio^able 
workers  and  as  the  representatives  of  the 


General  Grant.  131 

Loiiored  historic  names  of  our  own  earliest 
days,  were  received  with  hearty  welcome ; 
and  Eobert  C.  Winthrop,  with  a  lineage  that 
goes  back  to  the  earliest  of  iTew  England's 
leaders,  and  Hamilton  Fish,  with  the  double 
claim  of  ancestral  merit  and  of  his  own 
services  to  the  State,  Chief  Justice  Waite, 
and  William  M.  Evarts,  as  the  leader  of  the 
American  bar,  were  glad  to  meet  around  Mr. 
Childs's  hospitable  table  the  Philadelphia 
lawyers  whose  names  recall  their  ancestors, 
— Rawles  and  Cadwaladers,  IngersoUs,  Dal- 
las's, Tilghmans,  Biddies,  and  Whartons." 

General  Grant  was  made  a  member  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Eepublic  in  my  private 
office,  in  the  Ledger  Building,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  May  16,  1877.  On  his  consenting  to 
join  General  George  G.  Meade  Post,  No.  1, 
of  Philadelphia,  arrangements  were  made 
for  the  usual  muster  in  the  post-room,  but 
in  preparing  for  his  proposed  tour  around 
the  world  General  Grant  w^as  delaj^ed  in 
reaching  the  city,  and  then  the  engagements 
made  for  his  entertainment,  both  public  and 
private,  occupied  every  moment  of  his  time. 
It  became  necessary  to  change  the  plans,  and 
Colonel  Beath,  then  Adjutant-General  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Re[>ublic,  and  Samuel 


132  Recollections. 

Worthington,  Adjutant  of  Post  1,  called  on 
me  to  fix  the  hour  that  would  best  suit  Gen- 
eral Grant  for  the  Grand  Army  service. 

Accordingly,  at  the  time  fixed,  the  officers 
and  members  of  Meade  Post  met  in  my 
office,  and  there  General  Grant  assumed  the 
obligations  of  the  order,  and  received  the 
badge  of  membership,  which  he  wore  fre- 
quently during  his  tour  abroad,  and  at  home 
on  public  occasions. 

At  noon  of  the  same  day  a  public  recep- 
tion was  held  in  Independence  Hall,  and 
thousands  of  veterans,  with  other  citizens, 
shook  hands  with  General  Grant,  bade  him 
good-by,  and  wished  him  a  prosperous  voy- 
age. 

Upon  his  return  from  this  remarkable 
tour,  Philadelphia,  of  course,  welcomed  him 
with  unstinted  liberality. 

The  evening  of  December  12,  1879,  was 
devoted  to  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
the  Academy  of  Music  being  packed  with  an 
audience  of  over  ffve  thousand  enthusiastic 
veterans.  Only  a  few  personal  friends  could 
be  admitted  on  that  occasion,  Bishop  Simp- 
son, A.  J.  Drexel,  George  H.  Stuart,  and 
"myself  being  of  the  number. 

The  escort  of  General  Grant  from  the 
Continental  Hotel  to  the  Academy  of  Music 


General  Grant.  133 

was  probably  one  of  the  most  thrilling  and 
touching  scenes  ever  witnessed  in  Philadel- 
phia. A  guard  composed  of  members  of 
Post  1  and  representatives  from  all  the  city 
posts  acted  as  escort,  and  grouped  around 
General  Grant's  carriao:e  were  a  larsre  num- 
ber  of  color-bearers  carrying  tattered  and 
battle-stained  flags.  Fireworks  blazed  at 
every  point  along  the  route.  The  streets 
were  densely  packed  with  an  enthusiastic 
throng,  and  altogether  the  scene  was  one 
never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  wit- 
nessed it. 

General  Hartranft,  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  presided 
at  the  meeting,  and  Governor  Henry  M. 
Hoyt  made  an  eloquent  address  of  welcome. 
General  Grant's  reply  was  made  in  a  clear 
and  distinct  tone,  that  was  plainly  heard  all 
over  the  building,  and  was  listened  to  with 
the  closest  attention.     He  said, — 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  very  deep  regret  with 

me  that  I  had  not  thought  of  something  or 

prepared  something  to  say  in  response  to  the 

welcome  which  I  am  receiving  at  your  hands 

this  evening,  but  really  since  my  arrival  I 

have  not  had  the  time,  and  before  that  I 

scarcely  thought  of  it.     But  I  can  say  to  you 

all  that  in  the  two  years  and  seven  months 

12 


131:  Recollections, 

since  I  left  this  city  to  make  a  circuit  of  the 
globe,  I  have  visited  every  capital  in  Europe 
and  most  of  the  Eastern  nations,  but  there 
has  not  been  a  country  which  I  have  visited 
in  that  circuit  where  I  have  not  found  some 
of  our  members.  In  crossing  our  own  land 
from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  side,  there 
is  scarcely  a  new  settlement,  a  cattle-range 
or  collection  of  pioneers,  that  is  not  largely 
composed  of  veterans  of  the  late  war.  It 
calls  to  my  mind  the  fact  that  while  wars 
are  to  be  deplored,  and  unjust  wars  always 
to  be  avoided,  yet  they  are  not  an  unmixed 
evil.  The  boy  who  is  brought  up  in  his 
country  home,  or  his  village  home,  or  his 
city  home,  without  any  exciting  cause,  is 
apt  to  remain  there  and  follow  the  pursuits 
of  his  parent,  and  not  develop  beyond  it, 
and  in  the  majority  of  cases  not  come  up 
to  it ;  but  being  carried  away  in  the  great 
struggle,  and  particularly  one  where  so  much 
principle  is  involved  as  in  our  late  conflict, 
it  brinsrs  to  his  view  a  wider  field  than  he 
contemplated  at  his  home,  and  although  in 
his  field  service  he  longs  for  the  home  he 
left  behind  him,  yet  when  he  gets  there  he 
finds  that  a  disappointment,  and  has  struck 
out  for  new  fields,  and  has  developed  the 
vast  dominions  which  are  given  to  us  for 


General  Grant.  135 

our  keeping, — for  the  thousands  of  liberty- 
seeking  people.  The  ex-solclier  has  become 
the  pioneer,  not  only  of  our  land,  but  has 
extended  our  commerce  and  trade,  and 
knowledge  of  us  and  our  institutions,  to 
all  other  lands,  and  when  brio:hter  days 
dawn  upon  other  nations — particularly  those 
nations  of  the  East — America  will  steu  in 
for  her  share  of  the  trade  which  will  be 
opened,  and  through  the  exertions  of  the 
ex-soldiers — the  comrades,  veterans — and,  I 
might  say,  members  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic. 

"  Comrades,  having  been  compelled,  as 
often  as  I  have  been  since  my  arrival  in  San 
Francisco,  to  utter  a  few  words  not  only  to 
ex-soldiers,  but  to  all  other  classes  of  citizens 
of  our  great  country,  and  always  speaking 
without  any  preparation,  I  have  necessarily- 
been  obliged  to  repeat,  possibly  in  not  the 
same  words,  but  the  same  ideas.  But  the 
one  thing  I  want  to  impress  on  you  is  that 
we  have  a  country  to  be  proud  of,  to  fight 
for  and  die  for  if  necessarj^  While  many 
of  the  countries  of  Europe  give  practical 
protection  and  freedom  to  the  citizen,  yet 
there  is  no  European  country  that  compares 
in  its  resources  with  our  own.  There  is  no 
country  where  the  energetic  man  can,  by  his 


136  Recollections. 

own  labor,  and  by  his  own  industry,  ingenu- 
ity, and  frugality,  acquire  competency  as  he 
can  in  America. 

"  A  trip  abroad,  and  a  study  of  the  insti- 
tutions and  difficulties  of  a  poor  man  making 
his  way  in  the  world,  is  all  that  is  necessary 
to  make  us  better  citizens  and  happier  with 
our  lot  here. 

"  Comrades,  I  thank  you  for  the  very  cor- 
dial welcome  you  have  given  me." 

General  Grant  retained  his  membership 
with  Post  1  until  his  death,  and  when  he 
died  at  Mount  McGregor,  Post  ^o.  327,  of 
Brooklyn,  through  associations  with  Colonel 
Fred.  D.  Grant,  tendered  their  services  as  a 
guard  of  honor,  and  they  so  acted  at  the  cot- 
tage and  during  the  funeral  ceremonies 
with  a  similar  detail  from  Post  32,  of  Sara- 
tof]:a. 

The  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  cere- 
monies at  the  grave  at  Riverside  Park, 
]S'ew  York  Citj^,  were  exceedingly  solemn 
and  appropriate,  and  were  conducted  by  the 
officers  and  members  of  Meade  Post. 

On  the  first  Memorial  Day  after  the  burial 
of  General  Grant,  General  John  A.  Logan, 
who  had  the  distino^uished  honor  of  directins: 
the  observance  of  May  30,  as  a  memorial 
day  for  the  Union  dead,  delivered  a  most 


Gener^al  Grant.  137 

eloquent  eulogy  over  the  grave  of  his  dead 
comrade. 

I  may  say  here  that  the  growth  of  the 
Grand  Army  has  been  somewhat  phenom- 
enal in  view  of  the  time  that  has  elapsed 
since  the  war.  The  order  was  instituted  in 
April,  1866,  by  Dr.  D.  F.  Stephenson,  of 
Springfield,  Illinois,  and  for  some  years  had 
a  somewhat  precarious  existence.  It  did  not 
seem  to  have  the  confidence  of  the  veterans 
of  the  country,  and  after  the  first  start  it  de- 
clined very  rapidly.  It  reached  its  lowest 
point  in  1876.  When  General  Grant  joined 
Post  1  in  1877  it  w^as  a  very  small  post,  and 
the  whole  order  only  numbered  twenty-six 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine  in 
twenty-two  departments.  Each  year  there- 
after, however,  the  advance  was  marked. 
Over  eighty  thousand  were  mustered  in  a 
single  year,  and  now  the  membership  is  over 
four  hundred  thousand  in  forty-three  depart- 
ments. 

The  amount  of  relief  directly  disbursed 
by  the  posts  has  reached  nearly  two  million 
dollars. 


The  following,  written  at  the  time  of  the 
general's  death  by  his  devoted  and  valued 
friend,  General  E.  F.  Beale,  of  Washington, 

12* 


138  Recollections. 

is  so  accurate  and  just  that  I  am  glad  to 
quote  it  liere : 

''  He  was  so  truthful,  so  serene,  so  frank 
and  of  such  simplicity,  that  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  know  and  not  to  love  him.  I  feel  that 
the  w^orld  is  better  that  he  has  lived.  Many 
a  one  thinking  of  his  patience  will  suffer 
with  more  fortitude  trials  and  misfortunes, 
and,  knowing  how  beautiful  virtue  made  his 
life,  endeavor  to  imitate  it.  History  wHll  tell 
how  he  w^on  great  battles,  and  how  the  most 
occult  problems  of  state-craft  were  dealt  with 
in  his  masterly  w^ay,  but  it  would  be  better 
if  the  world  knew  more  of  the  sweetness  and 
purity  of  his  private  life.  I  had  the  high 
honor  of  his  friendship,  and  saw  him  in  his 
familiar  hour  when  the  mask  which  all  pub- 
lic men  must  wear  in  public  w^as  laid  aside 
^vith  the  reserve  w^hich  accompanies  it.  I 
was  his  companion  in  his  walks  and  rides, 
and  saw  and  heard  him  talk  in  his  quiet, 
reposeful  manner  on  all  gentle  themes.  He 
loved  to  ride  throusch  w^oods  and  note  the 
different  trees,  and  he  knew  them  all,  and 
speak  of  their  growth  and  habits.  He  loved 
the  growing  grain  and  the  means  and  pro- 
cesses of  quickening  it.  He  loved  horses  and 
farm  animals,  and  a  quiet,  contemplative  life 
mixed  w^ith  the  activity  of  out-door  work." 


West  Point  139 

I  never  heard  General  Grant  say,  nor  did 
I  ever  know  him  to  do,  a  mean  thing.  His 
entire  truthfuhiess,  his  perfect  honesty,  were 
beyond  question.  I  think  of  him,  now  that 
he  is  dead,  with  ever-increasing  admiration  ; 
I  can  recall  no  instance  of  vanity,  of  bom- 
bast, or  of  self-laudation.  He  was  one  of  the 
greatest,  noblest,  and  most  modest  of  men, 
— equally  great  in  civil  and  military  life. 


CHAPTER    YL 

WEST    POINT. 


Gift  of  the  Portraits  of  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan 
— Presentation  Ceremonies. 

In  June,  1887,  I  was  in  attendance  at 
West  Point  as  President  of  the  Board  of 
Visitors.  On  a  certain  important  occasion 
both  Generals  Sherman  and  Sheridan  were 
present,  and  the  latter  remarked  to  me  that 
he  had  heard  of  the  portrait  of  General 
Grant  which  I  had  presented  to  the  Military 
Academy,  and  desired  to  see  it.  I  told  him 
that  it  was  hung  in  "  Mess  Hall,"  the  name 
of   which   building,  upon  the  presentation 


140  Recollections, 

of  the  painting,  was  changed  at  my  sugges- 
tion to  Grant  Hall.  So  we  went  down  and 
saw  the  portrait,  one  nearly  of  full  length. 
Sheridan  admired  it  very  much;  and  I 
turned  to  him  and  said,  "  Kow,  general, 
if  I  outlive  you  I  will  have  your  portrait 
painted  to  hang  alongside  of  Grant's." 

So  it  came  about.  The  portraits  of  Sheri- 
dan and  Sherman  were  painted,  and  along 
with  Grant's  were  placed  in  Grant  Hall,  and 
were  formally  presented  to  the  government 
on  October  3,  1889. 

The  following  is  from  Harper^s  Weekly, 
:N'ew  York,  Saturday,  October  19,  1889 : 

MR.   CHILDS  AT  WEST  POINT. 

"  The  gift  of  the  portraits  of  Grant,  Sher- 
man, and  Sheridan  is  not  the  only  bene- 
faction of  Mr.  Childs  to  the  West  Point 
Academy,  as  the  following  letter  shows  : 

"  '  The  visitor  to  the  beautiful  cemetery  of 
the  Military  Academy,  on  the  hill-side  over- 
looking the  Hudson  at  West  Point,  will  see 
there,  above  the  graves  of  officers  and  cadets, 
a  number  of  monuments,  which  are  all  of 
the  same  original  and  striking  design.  The 
massive  base  of  each  is  of  gray  unpolished 
granite  ;  on  that  rests  a  block  of  red  granite, 


West  Point.  141 

polished,  and  on  that  a  bronze  cannon-ball 
of  fifteen  inches  in  diameter;  on  one  side  of 
that  is  placed  a  large  bronze  shield,  at  the 
top  of  which  is  the  insignia  of  the  rank  of 
him  to  whose  memory  it  was  erected  ;  below 
that  are  the  name,  dates  of  birth  and  of 
death,  and  an  appropriate  epitaph.  These 
monuments  are  all  the  gift  of  Mr.  George 
AY.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  and  how  they 
came  there  is  told  by  Colonel  Wilson,  the 
present  Superintendent  of  the  Military  Acad- 
emy. 

'"In  1887  Mr.  Childs  was  appointed  by 
President  Cleveland  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Visitors  to  West  Point,  and  during  his 
extended  visit  there,  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  as  President  of  the  Board,  he  saw  in 
the  cemetery  of  the  Academy  several  graves 
above  which  no  memorials  were  erected. 
Mr.  Childs  suggested  to  General  Merritt, 
the  then  superintendent,  who  entirely  sym- 
Dathized  with  his  srenerous  desio:n,  that  ef- 
forts  should  be  made  to  ascertain  from  the 
friends  of  those  whose  graves  were  marked 
by  no  stone  if  it  was  their  purpose  to  erect 
monuments  above  them,  and  if  not,  to  ob- 
tain their  consent  to  Mr.  Childs  doins:  so. 
The  result  was  that  the  above-described 
monuments  were  placed  in  the  cemetery, 


142  Recollections. 

Mr.  Chikls  liaving  had  the  design  of  them 
especially  made,  and  paying  the  entire  cost 
of  their  construction  and  erection.  Mr. 
Chikls  is  the  author  of  many  good  gifts, 
but  we  know  of  no  other  which  so  much  as 
this  denotes  the  gentle,  kindly  nature  of  the 
man.'  " 

The  following  editorial  is  from  the  New 
York  World,  October  5,  1889: 

"  Mr.  George  W.  Childs's  gift  of  portraits 
of  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan  to  the 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point  illustrates 
anew  that  gentleman's  rare  gift  of  doing 
the  right  thing  at  the  right  time,  in  the 
right  way.  Not  many  men  have  the  im- 
pulse to  give  and  to  do  public-spirited  things 
in  so  large  a  measure  as  he,  and  still  rarer 
are  those  who  share  his  genius  for  seeing 
what  may  be  best  done  and  how  it  may  be 
most  fitly  accomplished.  Now  that  he  has 
hung  upon  the  walls  of  the  Military  Acad- 
emy these  portraits  of  the  thnee  great  leaders 
of  the  Union  armies  from  1861  to  1865,  it 
is  obvious  to  every  intelligence  that  this  was 
a  peculiarly  fit  and  excellent  thing  to  do. 
But  nobody  else  had  the  gift  to  recognize 
the  need  and  the  generosity  to  supply  it. 
This  peculiar  grace  and  quickness  of  per- 


West  PQint.  143 

ception  have  distinguished  all  of  the  liberal 
Philadelphiaii's  benefactions  and  greatly  en- 
hanced their  value  and  their  influence.  He 
is  a  consummate  artist  in  well  doing,  and 
the  accomplishment  is  an  exceedingly  rare 
one." 

The  Secretary  of  War,  in  his  annual  report 
for  the  year  1889,  says, — 

"  Through  the  patriotic  generosity  of 
Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  the 
Academy  was  enriched,  through  interesting 
ceremonies  on  the  3d  of  October  last,  by 
the  presentation  of  iine  oil-paintings  of  the 
three    oreuerals  of  the  armv  whose  names 

O  t/ 

will  remain  indissolubly  connected  with  the 
war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union, — 
Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan." 

LETTER  FROM  PRESIDENT   HARRISON. 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington, 
September  30,  1889. 

George  W.  Childs,  Esq.,  Philadelphia. 

My  dear  Sir, — I  am  just  in  receipt  of 
your  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  exercises 
at  West  Point  on  the  3d  proximo  in  con- 
nection with  the  presentation  by  you  to  the 
Academy  of  the  portraits  of  Generals  Grant, 
Sherman,  and  Slieridan. 


144  JRecoUcdlons, 

Let  me  assure  you  that  I  decline  the  in- 
vitation with  regret.  But  my  engagements 
here  are  such  as  to  make  an  acceptance 
impossible.  The  observation  by  the  cadets 
of  the  portraits  of  these  great  captains  and 
patriots  cannot  fail  to  be  a  source  of  in- 
spiration and  encouragement. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 
Benj.  Harrison. 

LETTER  FROM   GENERAL   HOWARD. 

Headquarters  Division  of  the  Atlantic, 

Governor's  Island,  N.  Y., 
October  1,  1889. 

George  W.  Childs,  Esq.,  Ledger  Building, 
Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia. 
My  dear  Sir, — Nothing   but  a  positive 
engagement  of  long  standing  and  one  of 
great  importance  could  have  kept  me  from 
being  with  you  at  the  presentation  on  the 
3d  inst.     Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  these 
ever-increasing    evidences    of    your   large- 
heartedness  and  patriotic  devotion. 
Sincerely  your  friend, 

0.  0.  Howard, 
Maj,-Gen.  U.  S.  Army. 

The  ITew  York  Tribune  gave  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  formal  presentation  of 
the  portraits  : 


West  Point.  145 

"  West  Point,  K  Y.,  October  3,  1889.— 
Many  interests  were  happily  woven  into 
one  to  give  distinction  to  a  memorable  clay 
at  this  place.  Memorable  indeed  it  must  in 
any  case  have  been.  So  much  the  occasion 
assured.  But  it  was  a  happy  circumstance, 
and  added  greatly  to  heighten  the  interest 
and  impressiveness  of  the  ceremonies,  that 
the  presentation  to  the  corps  of  cadets  by  a 
liberal  citizen  of  the  portraits  of  our  three 
great  patriotic  commanders  should  not  only 
have  drawn  to2:ether  so  distinscuished  a  com- 
pany  of  our  own  people,  but  should  also 
have  been  witnessed  and  honored  by  the 
presence  of  the  International  American  Con- 
gress, the  official  representatives  of  nearly 
all  the  republics  of  the  three  Americas. 
And  in  all  this  remarkable  audience  none 
looked  on  and  listened  with  greater  interest 
and  attention  than  the  dignified  men  whose 
whole  demeanor  to-day  showed  that  they 
have  come  here  not  as  foreigners,  but  as 
friends.  They  seemed  to  feel  that  the  name 
of  America  mii^-ht  be  broad  enou2:h  to 
embrace  and  unite  a  hemisphere.  .  .  . 

"After  a  national  salute  from  the  field 
batterv  on  the  plain,  in  honor  of  the  Con- 
gress of  the  Americas,  the  battalion  of  cadets 

formed  in  line,  under  the  orders  of  the  com- 
Q        k  13 


146  Ixcoollection!^. 

mandantjLieuteniint-Coloiiel  J.  P.  Hawkins, 
and,  after  passing  in  review  in  common  and 
double  time  before  the  superintendent,  Col- 
onel Jolin  M.  Wilson,  and  the  Secretary  of 
War,  marched  in  a  body  to  Grant  Hall,  and 
stood  at  parade  rest  at  the  south  end  while 
the  company  seated  itself  in  the  body  of  the 
hall  and  on  the  platform  at  the  north  end. 
Here,  on  the  walls,  concealed  by  handsome 
silk  flags,  hung  the  three  large  paintings 
of  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  w'hich 
George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  was 
about  to  present  to  the  Academy.  Beneath 
them,  besides  the  members  of  the  Congress, 
sat  General  Sherman  himself,  witli  Mr. 
Childs  on  his  right;  Colonel  Wilson,  with 
Secretary  Proctor  on  his  left,  and  Chaplain 
Postlethwaite  on  his  right;  Generals  Van 
Vliet,  Fitz-John  Porter,  Horace  Porter, 
Michael  Y.  Sheridan,  Adjutant-General  Kel- 
ton,  Hon.  John  Bigelow,  Hon.  Hamilton 
Fish,  Jr.,  Hon.  Wayne  MacVeagh,  Alex- 
ander Hamilton,  Seiior  Pomero,  Mexican 
Minister  (a  devoted  friend  of  General  Grant), 
J.  G.  do  Amaral  Valente,  Brazilian  Minis- 
ter, and  many  noted  soldiers  and  citizens, 
together  wuth  the  officers  of  the  academic 
staff  and  the  ladies  of  their  families. 
.    "  After  a  short  and  earnest  prayer  by  the 


West  Point.  147 

Rev.  W.  M.  Postlethwaite,  the  chaplain  of 
the  Academy,  the  three  flags  fell  simultaue- 
ously  at  a  signal  from  Colonel  Wilson,  and 
the  portraits  stood  revealed.  They  are  all 
tlie  work  of  Mrs.  Darragh,  of  Philadelphia. 
Grant,  which  naturally  hangs  in  the  middle, 
was  painted  from  Gutekunst's  photograph 
of  1865,  and  represents  him  in  an  easy  atti- 
tude in  full  general's  uniform,  without  sword 
or  epaulets,  the  frock-coat  unbuttoned,  the 
right  hand  thrust  in  the  trousers-pocket,  and 
the  left  resting  in  the  folds  of  the  breast. 
Sherman,  on  Grant's  left,  is  from  Hunting- 
ton's portrait  of  1874;  while  Sheridan,  on 
the  opposite  side,  was  taken  from  life,  shortly 
before  his  death.  They  are  all  extremely 
lifelike,  as  the  men  looked  at  the  time.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  naturally  looked  older  than 
his  counterfeit,  but  a  startling  resemblance 
to  Sheridan  was  seen  and  remarked  in  the 
person  of  his  brother,  who  survives  him,  and 
who  sat  there  as  if  to  invite  the  verification. 
The  audience  stood  while  the  band  played 
'  Hail,  Columbia.'  Then  General  Horace 
Porter  made  an  eloquent,  scholarly,  and 
even  masterly,  presentation  speech  in  behalf 
of  Mr.  Childs.  He  was  well  received  and 
heartily  applauded  throughout,  as  well  as  at 
the  close." 


148  Recollections. 

The  l^Qw  York  World,  of  October  4,  re- 
cords the  presentation  as  follows  : 

"  The  ceremonies  of  the  unveiling  of  the 
portraits  quickly  followed  the  review  in 
Grant  Hall,  and  as  the  assemblage  took  their 
seats  the  appearance  of  General  Sherman 
and  Mr.  Childs  on  the  platform  brought 
about  a  storm  of  applause.  The  old  hero 
bowed  and  smiled  good-naturedly,  and  Mr. 
Childs  modestly,  seated  beside  Colonel  Wil- 
son, who  presided  as  the  chairman  of  the 
meeting,  blushed  as  though  some  one  had 
asked  him  to  take  command  of  the  army. 
It  was  military  throughout,  the  way  the 
ceremonies  began.  The  Post-chaplain  said 
a  short  prayer.  At  its  close  Colonel  Wilson 
raised  his  hand,  and  silence  prevailed.  Be- 
hind the  platform  there  were  three  American 
flags  hanging  against  the  wall,  and  all  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  them.  The  colonel's  hand 
came  down  on  the  table  in  front  of  him, 
there  was  one  beat  of  the  drum,  and  the 
three  flags  disappeared  as  if  wiped  out  by 
electricity,  and  the  three  portraits  of  the 
great  generals  were  revealed.  Round  upon 
round  of  applause  followed,  the  cadets 
marched  in  the  hall  behind  the  audience, 
presented  arms,  and  the  band  struck  up 
'  Hail,  Columbia.'     As  Mr.  Childs  stood  up 


West  Point  149 

like  the  others  on  the  platform  to  gaze  upon 
the  portraits,  he  was  applauded  to  the  echo, 
the  ladi,es  waving  their  handkerchiefs,  and 
the  cadets  heatino*  the  floor  with  the  but- 
ends  of  their  muskets.  What  Mr.  Chikls 
had  promised  General  Sheridan  in  1887, 
when  he  said,  'General,  if  I  outlive  jou  I 
will  have  your  portrait  painted  and  hung 
there  beside  that  of  Grant;  I  think  it  would 
be  a  good  idea  to  paint  Sherman  also,  and 
to  hano;  him  on  the  one  side  of  Grant  and 
you  on  the  other,'  was  an  accomplished  fact. 
Mr.  Childs  looked  towards  General  Sherman 
as  he  took  his  seat,  and  the  old  hero  clasped 
him  warmly  by  the  hand. 

"  General  Horace  Porter's  address  was 
listened  to  with  great  attention  and  loudly 
applauded.  When  Mr.  Childs's  name  was 
mentioned  as  well  as  General  Sherman's,  the 
applause  was  loud  and  long-continued. 

COLONEL   WILSON'S  KEMARKS. 

"  Colonel  Wilson's  reply  to  General  Por- 
ter, accepting  the  portraits  for  the  Academy, 
was  a  rins^ino;  one  and  astonished  his  fellow- 
soldiers  by  its  oratorical  delivery.  Even 
Secretary  of  War  Proctor  remarked,  in  the 
few  words  he  said  to  the  audience  on  be- 
ing called  for,  that  '  West  Point  evidently 


I  Oi 


150  ItccoUectio)is. 

brought   out    not    only   good    soldiers    but 
splendid  orators.' 

'"Mr.  Childs,'  said  Colonel  Wilson, 'in 
the  name  of  the  United  States  Military 
Academy  I  accept  these  splendid  portraits 
of  the  trio  of  heroes  to  whom  our  country 
is  so  much  indebted  for  its  grandeur  and  its 
unity.  It  is  particularly  appropriate  that 
you,  one  of  the  ablest  leaders  in  that  profes- 
sion which  is  surely  kindred  to  that  of  arms, 
the  press  of  the  nation,  should  present  to 
this,  their  Alma  Hater,  the  portraits  of  these 
eminent  men.  The  power  of  the  press  is 
to-day  felt  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
It  is  the  press  that  urges  us  to  "  do  noble 
deeds,  not  dream  them  all  day  long."  It  is 
men  like  you  who  are  leading  these  magnifi- 
cent armies  of  the  press  in  peace,  that  are 
reducincr  the  MalakofFs  of  vice  and  Redans 
of  evil.  In  the  name  of  the  Military  Acad- 
emy I  thank  you  for  this  generous  and  noble 
gift,  and  may  I  not  express  the  hope  that, 
to  prove  to  those  who  come  after  us  "  that 
peace  hath  its  victories  as  well  as  war,"  we 
ere  long  may  see  upon  these  walls,  among 
the  portraits  of  these  eminent  soldiers,  that 
of  the  able,  upright,  philanthropic,  con- 
scientious Christian  citizen,  that  generous, 
true-hearted  man,  Mr.  George  W.  Childs  V 


West  Point.  151 

"  The  Secretary  of  War  then  made  a  few 
remarks,  which  were  well  received. 

*'  General  Sherman,  who,  during  all  these 
ceremonies,  had  sat  on  the  platform  with 
folded  hands  and  tear-dimmed  and  down- 
cast e3^es,  in  response  to  many  calls,  was 
next  introduced.  As  the  general  arose  the 
assemblage  broke  forth  into  wild  cheering. 

"  The  applause  was  persistent  as  General 
Sherman  stood  upon  his  feet,  after  repeated 
calls.  He  spoke  with  feeling,  and  his  deeply- 
lined  face,  closely  watched  by  those  who 
never  before  had  seen  him,  was  moved  by 
intense  earnestness.  The  light  of  clustered 
lamps  fell  upon  his  silvered  head  as  he  spoke, 
and  his  strons;  face  was  tremulous  with  emo- 
tion  as  he  referred  to  the  fact  that  by  a 
strange  accident  of  nature  he  was  the  only 
one  living  now  of  the  three  whose  portraits 
were  before  his  hearers,  and  there  was  a  sad 
quality  in  his  voice  when  he  said,  '  I  was 
older  than  either  Grant  or  Sheridan.' 

GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  REMARKS. 

" '  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  and  those 
Cadets  behind  :  I  fear  that  West  Point  is 
losing  that  good  old  reputation  for  doing 
and  not  speaking.  I  have  done  more  talk- 
ing than  I  should  have  done,  and  I  believe 


152  RecoUcdlons. 

I  have  done  some  good,  tliough  not  sueh 
as  I  thought  of  doing.  It  is  one  of  those 
strange  incidents  of  my  life  that  I  am  per- 
mitted to  stand  before  you  to-night  the  sole 
survivor  of  the  trio,  or  trinity,  of  the  gen- 
erals of  the  army  of  the  United  States.  I 
was  older  than  Grant  or  Sheridan.  No  three 
men  ever  lived  on  the  earth's  surface  so 
diverse  in  mental  and  physical  attributes  as 
the  three  men  whose  portraits  you  now  look 
upon.  Different  in  every  respect  except  one, 
— we  had  a  guiding  star  ;  we  had  an  emblem 
of  nationality  in  our  minds  implanted  at 
West  Point,  which  made  us  come  together 
for  the  common  purpose  like  the  rays  of  the 
sun  coming  together  make  them  burn.  This, 
my  young  friends  in  gray,  I  want  you  to  re- 
member, that  men  may  differ  much,  but  that 
by  coming  together  in  harmony  and  friend- 
ship and  love  they  may  move  mountains. 

" '  I  knew  these  men  from  the  soles  of 
their  feet  to  the  tops  of  their  heads.  They 
breathed  the  same  feelings  with  me.  We 
were  soldiers  to  obey  the  orders  of  our  coun- 
try's government  and  csLVvy  them  out  what- 
ever the  peril  that  threatened  us.  Having 
done  so,  we  laid  down  our  arms,  like  good 
citizens  that  we  hope  to  have  been,  giving  the 
example  to  all  of  the  world  that  war  is  for 


West  Point  153 

one  purpose, — to  produce  peace.  A  just  war 
will  produce  peace;  an  unjust  war  has  am- 
bition or  some  other  had  motive.  Our  war 
was  pureh'  patriotic,  to  help  the  government 
in  its  peril.  We  were  taught  to  idolize  that 
flag  on  the  flag-statf,  obeying  the  common 
law,  and  working  to  a  common  purpose. 
^o  jealousies,  nothing  of  the  kind;  work- 
ing together  like  soldiers,  the  lieutenant 
obeying  the  captain,  the  captain  his  colonel, 
the  briscadier  the  o-eneral.  and  all  subordinate 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States, — the 
commander-in-chief.  There  is  no  need  to 
prophesy ;  it  is  as  plain  as  mathematics. 
You  can  look  in  the  heavens  and  read  it. 
It  is  the  lesson  of  life.  When  war  comes 
you  can  have  but  one  purpose — your  country, 
— and  by  your  country  I  mean  the  whole 
country,  not  part  of  it.'  " 

At  the  close  of  the  remarks  of  General 
Sherman  immense  cheers  rang  through  the 
hall.* 

*  In  a  letter  to  me,  dated  New  York,  November  3, 
1889,  General  Sherman,  speaking  of  my  "  Eecollections 
of  General  Grant,"  which  had  been  sent  to  him  in  con- 
venient pamphlet  form,  says,  "  The  substance  of  the 
contents  of  this  pamphlet  I  had  read  before,  but  it  is 
mere  valuable  in  being  thus  arranged  for  safe-keeping, 
thougii  I  would  prefer  it  in  octavo  instead  of  duodecimo, 
because  my  habit  is  to  collect  such  pamplilets  and  once 


154  Recollect  Ion  .•?. 

GENERAL  HORACE  TORTER'S  ADDRESS. 

General  Horace  Porter  was  General  Grant's 
trusted  and  tried  friend  for  the  last  twentj- 
five  years  of  his  life.  He  was  one  of  his  staff 
officers  throughout  the  war,  and  his  military 
secretary  while  he  was  President  of  the 
United  States.  The  foUowino:  is  the  touch- 
ino:  and  eles^ant  address  which  he  delivered 
on  this  occasion : 

"  The  only  representatives  of  royalty  recog- 
nized in  this  land  are  our  merchant  princes. 
We  are  indebted  for  the  occasion  which 
brings  us  together  to-day  to  the  princely  act 
of  a  public-spirited  and  patriotic  citizen  who 
has  conferred  upon  the  Military  Academy 
souvenirs  of  her  three  most  distin  squished 
graduates  whose  historic  features  have  been 
transferred  to  canvas  by  the  limner's  art. 
One  dwelling  in  our  midst,  two  dwelling  in 
our  memories.  One  bearing  the  laurel  upon 
a  living  brow,  two  wearing  the  laurel  inter- 
twined with  the  cypress.     The  history  of 

a  year  to  overhaul  them,  select  enough  each  year  to 
make  a  book  of  about  five  hundred  pages,  and  have 
,  them  indexed  and  bound  for  future  reference.  In  this 
way  I  collect  much  valuable  matter.  I  am  sure  this 
little  'primer'  of  yours  will  have  fifty  times  its  value 
fifiv  years  hence." 


WeM  Point  155 

their  lives  is  tlie  most  brilliant  chapter  in 
the  history  of  their  country.  It  savors  more 
of  romance  than  realitv;  it  is  more  like  a 
fabled  tale  of  ancient  clays  than  the  story  of 
American  soldiers  of  the  nineteenth  centurv. 
"  Most  of  the  conspicuous  characters  in 
history  have  risen  to  prominence  by  gradual 
steps,  but  the  senior  of  the  triumvirate, 
whose  features  are  recalled  to  us  to-dav, 
came  before  the  people  with  a  sudden  bound. 
Almost  the  first  sis-ht  caus^ht  of  him  was  in 
the  blaze  of  his  camp-fires  and  the  flashes 
of  his  guns  those  wintry  days  and  nights  in 
front  of  Donelson.  From  that  time  until 
the  closing  triumph  at  Appomattox  the 
great  central  figure  of  the  war  was  Ulysses 
S.  Grant.  As  light  and  shade  produce  the 
most  attractive  effects  in  a  picture,  so  the 
singular  contrasts,  the  strange  vicissitudes 
of  his  eventful  life  surround  him  with  an 
interest  which  attaches  to  few  characters  in 
history.  His  rise  from  an  obscure  lieu- 
tenant to  the  command  of  the  veteran  ar- 
mies of  the  great  republic;  his  transition 
from  a  frontier  post  of  the  untrodden  West 
to  the  Executive  Mansion  of  the  nation ; 
his  sitting  at  one  time  in  a  little  store  in 
Galena,  not  even  known  to  the  Congress- 
man from  his  district;  at  another  time  strid- 


156  Recollcdions. 

\\\g^  tlirougli  the  palaces  of  the  Old  World, 
with  the  descendants  of  a  line  of  kings 
rising  and  standing  uncovered  in  his  pres- 
ence,— these  are  some  of  the  features  of  his 
marvellous  career  which  appeal  to  the  imag- 
ination, excite  men's  wonder,  and  fascinate 
all  who  make  a  study  of  his  life. 

"  He  was  created  for  great  emergencies. 
It  was  the  very  magnitude  of  the  task  which 
called  forth  the  powers  that  mastered  it. 
In  ordinary  matters  he  was  an  ordinary 
man ;  in  momentous  affairs  he  towered  as  a 
giant.  When  performing  the  routine  duties 
of  a  company  post,  there  was  no  act  to 
make  him  conspicuous  above  his  fellow- 
officers,  but  when  he  wielded  corps  and 
armies  the  great  qualities  of  the  commander 
flashed  forth,  and  his  master-strokes  of 
genius  stamped  him  as  the  foremost  soldier 
of  his  a^e.  When  he  hauled  wood  from 
his  little  farm  and  sold  it  in  St.  Louis  his 
financiering  was  hardly  equal  to  that  of  the 
small  farmers  about  him,  but  when  a  mes- 
sage was  to  be  sent  by  a  President  to  Con- 
gress that  would  puncture  the  fallacies  of 
the  inflationists  and  throttle  by  a  veto  the 
attempt  of  unwise  legislators  to  cripple  the 
finances  of  the  nation,  a  state  paper  Avas 
produced  which  has  ever  since  commanded 


West  Point  157 

the  wonder  and  admiration  of  every  believer 
in  a  sound  currency.  He  was  made  for 
great  things,  not  for  Kttle.  He  could  collect 
fifteen  millions  from  Great  Britain  in  settle- 
ment of  the  Alabama  claims ;  he  could  not 
protect  his  own  personal  savings  from  the 
miscreants  who  robbed  him  in  Wall  Street. 
''  If  there  is  one  word  which  describes 
better  than  any  other  the  predominating 
characteristic  of  his  nature,  that  word  is 
loyalty.  He  was  loyal  to  his  friends,  loyal 
to  his  family,  loyal  to  his  country,  and  loyal 
to  his  God.  This  trait  naturally  produced 
a  reciprocal  effect  upon  those  who  were 
brought  into  relations  with  him,  and  was 
one  of  the  chief  reasons  whv  men  became 
so  loyally  attached  to  him.  Many  a  public 
man  has  had  troops  of  adherents  who  clung 
to  him  only  for  the  patronage  dispensed  at 
his  hands,  or  being  dazzled  by  his  power 
became  blind  partisans  in  a  cause  he  repre- 
sented; but  perhaps  no  other  man  than 
General  Grant  ever  had  so  many  personal 
friends  who  loved  him  for  his  own  sake, 
whose  affection  only  strengthened  with  time, 
whose  attachment  never  varied  in  its  devo- 
tion, whether  he  was  general  or  President, 
or  simply  private  citizen. 

"  He  was  generous  alike  to  friends  and 

14 


158  RccoUectioiis. 

foes.  So  magnanimous  was  lie  to  liis  enemy 
that  we  find  him  after  the  close  of  the  war 
risking  his  commission  in  saving  from  pros- 
ecution in  the  civil  courts  his  great  military 
antagonist  upon  the  battle-fields  of  Virginia. 

"  Even  the  valor  of  his  martial  deeds  was 
surpassed  by  the  superb  heroism  he  dis- 
played when  fell  disease  attacked  him,  when 
the  hand  which  had  seized  the  surrendered 
swords  of  countless  thousands  was  no  longer 
able  to  return  the  pressure  of  a  comrade's 
grasp,  when  he  met  in  death  the  first  enemy 
to  whom  he  ever  surrendered.  But  with 
him  death  brought  eternal  rest,  and  he  was 
permitted  to  enjoy  what  he  had  pleaded  for 
in  behalf  of  others,  for  the  Lord  had  let  him 
have  peace. 

"  Turn  we  now  to  Grant's  immediate  suc- 
cessor in  the  office  of  general-in-chief,  his 
illustrious  lieutenant  with  whom  he  divided 
a  field  of  military  operations  which  covered 
half  a  continent,  the  skilful  strategist,  the 
brilliant  writer,  the  commander  whose  or- 
ders spoke  with  the  true  bluntness  of  the 
soldier,  who  fought  from  valley's  depth  to 
mountain  hei2:ht,  who  marched  from  inland 
rivers  to  the  sea, — William  T.  Sherman. 

"  He  has  shown  himself  possessed  of  the 
higliest  characteristics  of  the  soldier.     Bold 


West  Point.  159 

in  conception,  self-reliant,  demonstrating  by 
his  acts  that  '  much  clanger  makes  great 
hearts  most  resolute,'  prompt  in  decision, 
unshrinking  under  grave  responsibilities, 
fertile  in  resources,  quick  to  adapt  the 
means  at  hand  to  the  accomplishment  of 
an  end,  possessing  an  intuitive  knowledge 
of  topography,  combining  the  restlessness 
of  a  Hotspur  with  the  patience  of  a  Fabius, 
unswerving  in  patriotism,  of  unimpeachable 
personal  character,  with  a  physical  constitu- 
tion which  enabled  him  to  undergo  every 
hardship  incident  to  an  active  campaign,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  he  has  filled  so  large  a 
measure  of  military  greatness,  that  he  stands 
in  the  front  rank  of  the  world's  great  cap- 
tains. 

"  ^o  name  connected  with  American  war- 
fare inspires  more  genuine  enthusiasm,  ap- 
peals more  to  our  sentiments,  or  more  ex- 
cites our  fancy  than  that  of  the  wizard  of 
the  battle-field,  Philip  H.  Sheridan.  The 
personification  of  chivalry,  the  incarnation 
of  battle;  cheering,  threatening,  inciting, 
beseeching,  inspiring  all  men  by  his  acts, 
he  roused  his  troops  to  deeds  of  individual 
heroism  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  mod- 
ern warfare,  and  his  unconquerable  columns 
rushed  to  victory  with  all  the  confidence  of 


1 60  HccoUcdions. 

Ccesar's  Tentli  Legion.  Generous  of  his 
life,  gifted  with  the  ingenuity  of  a  Hanni- 
bal, the  dash  of  a  Murat,  the  courage  of  a 
Ney,  the  magnetism  of  his  presence  trans- 
formed routed  squadrons  into  charging  col- 
umns, and  snatched  victory  from  defesit. 
He  preferred  shot  and  shell  to  flags  of  truce ; 
he  would  rather  lead  forlorn  hopes  than 
follow  in  the  wake  of  charges. 

"  His  standard  rose  above  all  others  on 
the  field ;  wherever  blows  fell  thickest  his 
crest  was  in  their  midst;  despite  the  daring 
valor  of  the  defence,  opposing  ranks  went 
down  before  the  fierceness  of  his  onsets 
never  to  rise  again ;  he  paused  not  till  the 
folds  of  his  banners  waved  over  the  strong- 
holds he  had  wrested  from  the  foe.  While 
his  achievements  in  actual  battle  eclipse, 
by  their  brilliancy,  the  strategy  and  grand 
tactics  employed  in  his  campaigns,  yet  the 
skill  and  boldness  exhibited  in  moving  large 
bodies  of  men  into  position  entitle  him,  per- 
haps, to  as  much  credit  as  the  marvellous 
qualities  he  displayed  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy. 

"  Brave  Sheridan  !  Methinks  I  see  your 
silent  clay  again  quickened  into  life,  once 
more  riding  Rienzi  through  a  fire  of  hell, 
leaping   opposing    earthworks   at   a   single 


WestPohit.  IGl 

bound,  and  leaving  nothing  of  those  who 
barred  your  way  except  the  fragments  scat- 
tered in  your  path. 

"Matchless  leader!  Harbinger  of  vic- 
tory, we  salute  you  ! 

"  As  long  as  manly  courage  is  talked  of  or 
heroic  deeds  are  honored,  there  will  remain 
green  in  the  hearts  of  men  the  talismanic 
name  of  Sheridan. 

"  Nearly  every  great  war  has  given  birth 
to  one  o;reat  2:eneral;  no  other  war  than  our 
own  has  produced  three  such  eminent  com- 
manders. In  their  portraits  future  graduates 
will  gaze  upon  the  features  of  three  soldiers 
who  were  heroes,  comrades,  friends.  As 
iron  is  welded  in  the  heat  of  the  forge,  so 
was  their  friendship  welded  in  the  heat  of 
battles.  With  hearts  untouched  by  jealousy, 
with  souls  too  great  for  rivalry,  they  saved 
us  from  the  spectacle  presented  by  a  Marius 
and  a  Sulla,  a  Caesar  and  a  Pompey,  a  Charles 
the  First  and  a  Cromwell.  They  placed 
above  all  personal  ends  the  safety  of  the 
state,  and,  like  the  men  in  the  Koman  pha- 
lanx of  old,  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
and  linked  their  shields  against  a  common 
foe. 

"  In  this  life  little  is  learned  from  precept, 
something  from  experience,  much  from  ex- 

l  14* 


1G2  Rccollcdions. 

ample.  It  is  said  that  for  three  hundred 
years  after  Thermopylae  every  school  child 
ill  Greece  was  required  each  day  to  repeat 
from  memory  the  names  of  the  three  hun- 
dred immortal  heroes  who  fell  in  the  defence 
of  that  pass.  It  would  be  in  itself  a  liberal 
education  to  the  future  defenders  of  the 
republic  who  bear  diplomas  from  this  his- 
toric spot,  where  patriotism  early  found  a 
stronghold  and  treason's  plots  were  baffled, 
if  the}'  could  daily  utter  the  names  and  con- 
template the  exalted  characters  of  the  trio 
whose  faces  will  henceforth  look  down  upon 
them  from  the  artist's  canvas.  As  we  gaze 
upon  the  features  of  each  one  of  them  we 
may  fittingly  apply  the  words  of  Milton, — 


H  I 


Thither  shall  all  the  valiant  youth  resort, 
And  from  his  memory  inflame  their  breasts 
To  matchless  valor.' 

"  The  imperishable  scroll  on  which  the 
record  of  their  deeds  is  written  has  been  se- 
curely lodged  in  the  highest  niche  of  Fame's 
temple,  ^o  one  can  pluck  a  single  laurel 
from  their  brow ;  no  man  can  lessen  the 
measure  of  their  renown. 

"It  is  an  auspicious  circumstance  which 
permits  these  ceremonies  to  take  place  be- 
fore so  distinguished  and  influential  a  body 


West  Point.  163 

as  that  of  the  International  American  Con- 
gress. The  presence  of  its  delegates  upon 
this  Post  dedicated  to  war  is  an  augury  that 
states  may  be  saved  without  the  sword ; 
that  henceforth  our  differences  in  the  J^ew 
World  may  be  settled  without  resorting  to 
the  •  last  argument  of  kings/  and  that  con- 
gresses, bearing  in  their  hands  the  olive- 
branch,  will  labor  to  avoid  war,  which 
wastes  a  nation's  substance,  to  foster  com- 
merce, which  is  a  nation's  life,  and  to  pre- 
serve that  peace  and  good-will  which  should 
everywhere  prevail  among  men. 

"  Three  years  ago  there  was  selected  as 
President  of  your  Board  of  Visitors  a  citi- 
zen of  Philadelphia,  whose  heart  is  as  large' 
as  his  purse,  and  whose  generosity  dwells 
in  a  land  which  knows  no  frontiers, — Mr. 
George  W.  Childs.  His  thoughtfulness 
prompted  his  liberality  to  procure  for  the 
Academy  these  gifts  which  are  to  grace  its 
walls. 

"  The  likeness  of  General  Grant  was  exe- 
cuted by  Mrs.  Darragh,  of  Philadelphia. 
It  was  made  from  a  photograph  taken  by 
Gutekunst,  of  that  city,  in  1865,  which  Mrs. 
Grant  and  a  number  of  the  general's  friends 
considered  the  best  of  the  many  pictures 
taken  of  him  just  after  the  war.     Repre- 


16-1  Recollections. 

senting  him  as  he  appeared  nearly  thirty 
years  ago,  his  features  do  not  seem  so  famil- 
iar to  those  who  saw  him  only  in  later  years. 
Mrs.  Darraii:h  was  also  commissioned  to  exe- 
cute  the  portraits  of  Sheridan  and  Sherman. 
In  the  preparation  of  General  Sherman's 
picture  her  chief  guide  was  the  famous  por- 
trait of  him  painted  by  Huntington,  fifteen 
years  ago,  and  her  aim  was  to  represent  the 
general  as  of  that  period.  General  Sheri- 
dan sat  for  his  portrait,  and  she  painted  it 
from  life,  representing  the  general  as  he  ap- 
peared but  a  short  time  before  his  lamented 
death. 

"It  now  becomes  my  agreeable  duty,  in 
the  name  of  Mi*.  Childs,  to  present  to  you. 
Colonel  "Wilson,  as  Superintendent  of  the 
Military  Academy,  the  portraits  of  three  of 
her  sons  who  have  borne  the  highest  mili- 
tary titles,  as  an  offering  from  an  untitled 
citizen,  who,  in  his  living,  has  verified  the 
adage  that  the  post  of  honor  is  the  private 
station. 

"  His  good  works  have  made  him  honored 
in  other  lands  as  well  as  this,  where  his 
name  is  held  in  grateful  recollection  by  the 
many  who  have  been  the  recipients  of  his 
practical  philanthropy;  and  not  only  the 
graduates  of  West  Point,  but  the  people  at 


West  Point  165 

large,  ^vill,  I  am  sure,  make  grateful  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  means  he  has  taken, 
in  those  testimonials,  to  manifest  his  appre- 
ciation of  the  Military  Academy  and  the 
three  distinguished  sons  she  trained  to  battle 
for  the  integrity  of  our  common  country.' 


.'  " 


There  were  loud  cheers  as  the  general 
sat  down,  and  then  the  band  struck  up 
"Yankee  Doodle," the  ladies  and  guests  gen- 
erally rushed  from  their  seats,  and  as  they 
filed  out  into  the  dark  after  the  cadet  corps 
Mr.  Childs  was  surrounded  bv  the  officers 
and  the  American  delegates,  who  shook  him 
bv  the  hand  heartily  and  cons^ratulated  him 
upon  the  grand  success  of  his  patriotic  plan 
of  1887. 

HISTORY   OF  THE  PORTRAITS. 

Major  John  M.  Carson,  chief  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Ledger  Bureau  at  Washington,  has 
furnished  the  following  account  of  the  paint- 
ing of  the  portraits  of  Generals  Grant, 
Sherman,  and  Sheridan  for  the  Military 
Academy  : 

"  The  creation  of  portraits  of  Generals 
Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  now  hung 
in  the  Cadet  Mess  Hall — to  be  hereafter 
known  as  Grant  Ilall — at  the  United  States 


1G6  Recollections. 

Military  Academy,  West  Point,  was  begun 
about  three  years  ago.  The  original  pur- 
pose was  confined  to  a  portrait  of  Grant. 
The  portraits  of  Sherman  and  Sheridan 
sprang  from  this  purpose,  and,  considering 
the  relations  of  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  to 
whose  patriotism  and  liberality  the  Military 
Academy  is  indebted  for  the  portraits,  with 
those  three  military  chieftains,  the  Sherman 
and  Sheridan  paintings  were  an  easy  and 
log-ical  out2:rowth.  The  scheme  from  which 
these  three  large  valuable  paintings  ema- 
nated was  evolved  from  a  comparatively 
unimportant  incident.  About  four  years 
ago,  with  that  skill  and  ingenuity  which 
have  made  him  famous  in  the  management 
of  the  Cadet  Mess,  Captain  William  F. 
Spurgin,  treasurer,  quartermaster,  and  com- 
missary of  cadets,  succeeded  in  giving  the 
Mess  Hall  a  new  floor  and  having  its  walls 
brightened. 

"  Captain  Spurgin  next  conceived  the 
idea  of  makincr  the  Hall  still  more  attrac- 
tive  by  hanging  pictures  and  portraits  upon 
the  walls.  This  was  approved  by  General 
Wesley  Merritt,  then  superintendent  of  the 
Academv,  who  authorized  the  transfer  from 
the  library  of  several  portraits  for  this  pur- 
pose.    When  these  were  hung  in  the  Mess 


West  Point  167 

Hall  a  now  idea  was  suggested  to  Captain 
Spurgin,  and  he  concluded  that  it  would  be 
most  appropriate  to  collect  for  the  Hall  por- 
traits and  photographs  of  the  distinguished 
graduates  of  the  Academy.  It  was  naturally 
thought  that  the  daily  presence  with  the 
cadets  of  these  exemplars  of  the  Academy 
could  not  fail  to  exercise  a  wholesome  influ- 
ence upon  the  corps.  They  would  furnish 
cadets  when  at  meals  suo^srestions  for  thous^ht 
and  conversation,  and  those  who  occupied 
seats  at  tables  once  occupied  by  Grant,  Sher- 
man, Sheridan,  Meade,  Thomas,  Hancock, 
and  other  eminent  o-raduates,  as  thev  looked 
upon  the  portraits,  would  be  encouraged  to 
emulate  the  lives  of  those  great  chieftains. 
In  addition  to  this,  it  was  thought  that  such 
a  gallery  might  be  collected  through  relatives 
and  friends,  without  expense  to  the  govern- 
ment or  the  Acad  em  V. 

"During  one  of  my  periodical  visits  to 
the  Academy  Captain  Spurgin  outlined  his 
scheme,  and  said  he  would  like  to  obtain  a 
good  picture  of  General  Grant.  It  was  sug- 
gested that  Mr.  George  W.  Childs  had  sev- 
eral good  large-size  photographs  of  Grant, 
and  w^ould  doubtless  be  glad  to  contribute 
one  of  them  for  this  use.  Captain  Spurgin 
wrote  to  Mr.  Childs,  who  agreed  to  comply 


1 68  Recollections. 

witlj  the  request  made.  Shortly  thereafter 
Mr.  Childs  mentioned  this  matter  to  Mrs. 
U.  S.  Grant,  who  said  that  she  would  like, 
above  all  things,  to  have  a  good  likeness  of 
her  husband  at  the  Military  Academy,  for 
which  he  always  entertained  a  feeling  of 
admiration  and  love.  Some  years  prior  to 
this  Mr.  Childs  had  Leutze,  who  painted 
'  Westward  the  Course  of  Empire'  upon  the 
wall  of  the  west  stairway  to  the  galkry  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  at  Washington, 
paint  a  portrait  of  General  Grant,  and  sug- 
gested that  the  Leutze  painting  be  trans- 
ferred from  the  library  to  the  Cadet  Mess 
Hall.  The  Leutze  portrait  was  not  liked 
by  Mrs.  Grant,  and  she  did  not,  therefore, 
care  to  have  it  used  for  this  purpose.  Mr. 
Childs  then  said  he  would  have  a  portrait 
of  the  Gieneral  made  for  West  Point  from 
any  picture  Mrs.  Grant  might  select.  The 
photograph  made  by  Gutekunst,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, in  1865,  was  selected  by  Mrs. 
Grant,  and  Mrs.  Darragh,  of  Philadelphia, 
was  commissioned  to  paint  a  portrait  from 
it.  The  general  stood  for  this  photograph. 
It  is  regarded  by  his  famil}^,  and  those  who 
were  his  associates,  as  a  correct  likeness  of 
the  general  as  he  appeared  at  the  close  of 
the  war.     When  the  photograph  was  taken 


West  Point  169 

General  Grant  wore  upon  his  left  arm  a 
badge  of  mourning  for  President  Lincoln. 
This  emblem  of  mourning  does  not  appear 
in  the  painting.  To  many  of  those  who 
knew  General  Grant  after  he  became  Presi- 
dent, the  Darragh  portrait  is  not  considered 
good,  but  by  the  family  of  the  general,  and 
by  those  who  were  intimate  with  him  during 
and  imniediately  after  the  war,  it  is  regarded 
as  a  faithful  likeness  and  an  excellent  por- 
trait. It  was  sent  to  the  Academy  in  May, 
1887,  and  hung  on  the  north  wall  of  the 
Cadet  Mess  Hail.  General  Merritt,  '  in 
honor  of  the  great  graduate  of  the  Academy, 
whose  portrait,  a  present  to  the  Academy 
from  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  sanctifies  the 
hall  as  a  gallery  for  the  portraits  of  gradu- 
ates,' issued  an  order  directing  that  there- 
after the  cadet  dinincr-hall  should  be  known 
officially  as  Grant  Hall. 

"  In  June,  1887,  a  few  days  after  the 
Grant  yjortrait  had  been  hung,  Mr.  Childs 
visited  the  Military  Academy  as  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Visitors,  upon  which  occa- 
sion I  accompanied  him.  General  Sheridan 
also  visited  the  Academy  at  that  time  in  his 
official  capacity  as  lieutenant-general  com- 
manding the  army,  and  it  proved  to  be  his 

last  visit   to   the  institution.     In    company 
H  15 


1 70  Recollections. 

witli  Mr.  Cliilds  General  Sheridan  visited 
the  dining-hall  to  inspect  the  Grant  portrait, 
and  during  this  inspection  Mr.  Childs  said 
to  the  general,  in  his  quick  but  cheerful 
manner  in  conversation, — 

'"General,  if  I  outlive  you  I  will  have 
your  portrait  painted  and  hung  there  beside 
that  of  Grant.' 

"Sheridan  responded,  'Mr.  Childs,  if  you 
intend  to  have  painted  a  portrait  of  me  I 
would  like  to  see  it  before  it  is  hung  in  this 
hall.' 

"  '  All  right,'  said  Mr.  Childs ;  '  you  shall 
see  it.  I  would  prefer  to  have  you  painted 
while  living.' 

"  After  further  conversation  about  the 
Grant  portrait,  the  two  gentlemen  left  the 
hall  and  walked  to  the  house  of  the  superin- 
tendent, General  ^lerritt,  at  w^hich  General 
Sheridan  was  a  guest.  Mr.  Childs  proceeded 
to  the  West  Point  Hotel.  Sheridan  arrived 
at  the  Point  that  morning,  and  was  to  review 
the  corps  of  cadets  in  the  afternoon,  and,  as 
it  was  near  the  hour  fixed  for  the  parade 
when  General  Merritt's  house  was  reached, 
he  went  directly  to  his  room  to  don  his 
uniform.  "While  thus  ens^ao-ed  he  sent  a 
messenger  to  Mr.  Childs,  asking  that  gentle- 
man to  join  him  before  '  parade,'  and,  at  the 


West  Point.  171 

same  time,  invited  the  Board  of  Visitors, 
throiio:h  Mr.  Childs,  who  was  President  of 
the  Board,  to  attend  him  during  the  cere- 
monies of  parade  and  review. 

''  When  Mr.  Childs  joined  the  general  on 
the  porch  of  the  superintendent's  house,  the 
latter  said, — 

"  '  Mr.  Childs,  while  putting  on  my  uni- 
form, I  could  not  help  musing  about  our 
conversation  in  the  Mess  Hall.  If  you  are 
in  earnest  about  painting  my  portrait  for  the 
Academy,  I  want  to  be  painted  from  life.' 

"  '  I  am  in  earnest,'  replied  Mr,  Childs. 
'  The  portrait  shall  be  painted,  upon  one 
condition, — it  must  please  Mrs.  Sheridan. 
I  think  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  paint 
Sherman  also,  and  to  hang  him  on  the  one 
side  of  Grant  and  you  on  the  other.' 

"  '  That  certainly  would  be  a  generous 
act  upon  your  part,'  said  Sheridan,  ^  and  one 
which  would  be  appreciated  by  Sherman 
and  myself  I  would  rather  have  you  do 
this  service  than  anv  other  man,  because  no 
one  could  do  it  with  so  much  propriety. 
The  relations  between  Grant  and  vou  were 
bound  by  strong  ties  of  mutual  affection. 
Those  between  you,  Sherman,  and  myself 
have  been  most  intimate.  We  have  all 
been  guests  at  the   same   time,  and  many 


172  Recollections, 

times,  at  your  house.  You  have  come  to 
know  us  better  than  other  men  know  us. 
Grant,  Sherman,  and  myself  were  closely 
connected  with  the  suppression  of  the  re- 
bellion. United  thus  in  our  lives,  we  should 
be  placed  together  here,  returned  as  it  were 
to  the  Academy  from  which  we  started  out 
in  the  morning  of  life  as  second  lieutenants. 
Associated  as  3^ou  have  been  with  us,  you  are 
the  very  man  to  keep  us  united  after  death.' 

"^AU  right,  general,'  said  Mr.  Childs. 
'  The  portraits  shall  be  painted  and  hung  in 
the  Mess  Hall.     Now  select  your  artist.' 

"  When  Mr.  Childs  spoke  to  General 
Sheridan  in  the  Mess  Hall  about  painting 
his  portrait,  the  latter  did  not  think  that 
Mr.  Childs  was  serious.  I  happen  to  loiow 
that  Mr.  Childs  formed  the  determination 
to  add  the  portraits  of  Sherman  and  Sheri- 
dan to  his  contribution  prior  to  his  visit  to 
the  Acadeni}',  and  informed  General  Sheri- 
dan of  this  fact  upon  his  return  to  Wash- 
ington from  West  Point  during  a  conversa- 
tion in  which  he  related  to  me  what  I  have 
stated  touching  the  conversation  with  Mr. 
Cliilds  at  West  Point,  and  also  the  conver- 
sation between  Childs,  Sheridan,  and  Sher- 
man in  relation  to  painting  a  portrait  of  the 
general  last  named. 


West  Point  173 

"  Sliortly  after  the  conversation  between 
Childs  and  Sheridan  on  the   porch  of  the 
superintendent's   house,  the    battalion  was 
formed   on    the    parade-ground.      General 
Sheridan,  accompanied  by  the  superinten- 
dent  and  staff  and  the  Board  of  Visitors, 
had  passed  down  the  front  and  up  the  rear 
of  the  battalion,  with  its  well-aligned  and 
rigid  ranks,  in  which  he  had  once  stood  as 
a   cadet,   and    had  taken   his  place  at  the 
point  designated  for  the  reviewing  officer, 
when  General  Sherman  rode  up  from  Crans- 
ton's Hotel,  located  about  a  mile  south  of 
the  reservation.     Sherman  remained  in  his 
carriage,  which  was  drawn  up  in  front  of 
the  parade-ground  and  directly  in  rear  of 
the  reviewing  officer.     As  the  corps  passed 
in   common,    and    subsequently   in    double 
time,  Sherman  stood  up  and  watched,  with 
old-time  eagerness  and  pride,  the  columns 
of  gray  and  white  until  they  wheeled  into 
a   faultless   line,  tendered  the   final   salute 
to  the  reviewing  officer,  heard   the    cadet 
adjutant   announce   '  Parade   is    dismissed,' 
and  saw  the  companies  move,  to  lively  mu- 
sic, from  the  parade-ground  to  the  cadet  bar- 
racks.    Then  he  alighted  from  the  carriage, 
pushed    through    the    crowd    that    always 
fringes   the  parade-ground   upon  occasions 

15* 


17-1  Ilecollectioiis. 

of  parade  and  review,  and  joined  Sheridan 
and  the  other  officials  who  still  lingered  on 
the  ground.  When  the  usual  salutations 
and  introductions  had  been  concluded, 
Sheridan  drew  Sherman  and  Childs  apart 
from  the  crowd  and  said, — 

"  '  Sherman,  Mr.  Childs  informs  me  that 
he  intends  to  have  portraits  of  you  and  me 
painted,  to  hang  beside  that  of  General 
Grant  in  the  Mess  Hall.  He  proposes  to 
wait  until  we  die,  but  I  insisted  that  the 
paintings  be  made  before  we  die,  so  we  may 
see  how  the  artist  executes  us.  He  has 
agreed  to  do  this,  and  I  told  him  he  is  the 
one  man  who  can  and  should  do  it.' 

"  General  Sherman  expressed  great  grati- 
fication at  this.  '  Childs,'  said  he,  '  that  is 
a  good  idea.  I  think  it  will  be  admitted, 
and  I  can  say  it  without  suspicion  of  ego- 
tism, that  Grant,  Sheridan,  and  myself  were 
the  three  central  military  figures  of  the  war, 
and  I  would  like  that  we  should  go  down 
to  posterity  together.  I  like  the  idea  of 
hanging  our  portraits  in  the  Mess  Hall  here, 
and  I  agree  with  Sheridan  that  the  scheme 
can  be  better,  and  with  greater  propriety, 
carried  out  by  you  than  by  any  other  man.' 

"  'Well,  it  is  all  understood  and  settled,' 
said  Mr.  Childs.     'I  have  told  Sheridan  to 


West  Point.  175 

select  his  artist,  and  I  now  repeat  that  order 
to  you.' 

"  When  it  was  publicly  announced  that 
Mr.  Chilcls  was  to  have  the  portraits  painted, 
the  two  o:enerals  were  overrun  with  letters 
from  artists  solicitins^  the  work.  In  Sheri- 
dan's  case  the  applications  were  so  numer- 
ous as  to  become  annoying,  and  upon  his 
request  a  paragraph  was  published  in  the 
newspapers  announcing  that  he  had  selected 
an  artist.  It  was  Mr.  Cliilds's  desire  to 
have  the  two  portraits  finished  in  time  for 
the  annual  commencement  in  June,  1888, 
and  by  his  direction  I  several  times  urged 
Sheridan  to  select  an  artist  and  have  the 
work  begun.  This  was  not  an  easy  matter 
for  him  to  do,  but  he  finally  succeeded  in 
finding  an  artist  in  l^ew  York  with  whom 
he  partially  arranged  to  paint  his  portrait. 
In  the  mean  time  he  sent  to  Mr.  Childs  a 
large  photograph,  taken  about  the  time  he 
left  Chicago  to  succeed  Sherman  in  command 
of  the  armv.  It  shows  Sheridan  in  the  full 
uniform  of  his  rank,  and  was  his  favorite 
picture.  Supposing,  upon  receipt  of  the 
photograph,  that  the  general  intended  that 
he  should  select  an  artist,  Mr.  Childs  com- 
missioned Mrs.  Darragh  to  paint  the  portrait, 
and   she   proceeded   with   the    preliminary 


176  Recoiled  ions. 

work,  using  the  photograph  referred  to. 
Some  time  thereafter  I  receiv^ed  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Childs  informing  me  that  Mrs. 
Darragh  would  visit  Washington  to  consult 
General  Sheridan  about  giving  her '  sittings/ 
and  requesting  me  to  arrange  with  the  gen- 
eral for  an  interview.  He  Avas  very  much 
displeased  upon  being  informed  of  the  se- 
lection of  Mrs.  Darragh,  and  declared,  with 
an  exhibition  of  temper,  that  he  would  not 
see  her.  He  did  not  believe  a  woman  could 
paint  a  man's  portrait.  Finally  he  cooled 
down  and  said  the  woman  should  have  a 
fair  chance.  Upon  her  arrival  in  Washing- 
ton I  accompanied  Mrs.  Darragh  to  the  War 
Department  and  presented  her  to  the  gen- 
eral. The  lady  went  to  the  Department 
with  fear  and  trembling.  She  had  been 
informed  that  Sheridan  was  not  pleased 
with  her  selection,  that  he  was  a  choleric,  ill- 
mannered  man,  and  she  therefore  imagined 
that  he  would  be  frigid,  turbulent,  and  dis- 
agreeable. I  assured  the  lady  that  she  had 
received  a  wrong  impression  about  Sheridan, 
— that  he  was  quiet  and  gentlemanly  in  de- 
portment, and  that  she  would  be  given  a 
kind  reception  and  respectful  hearing.  It 
was  plain,  however,  that  she  was  not  im- 
pressed w^ith  my  estimate  of  the  general, 


West  Point  177 

and  entered  his  office  with  nervous  appre- 
hension which  she  vainly  strove  to  conceal. 
The  o^eneral  received  Mrs.  Darracrh  witli 
the  utmost  kindness.  A  cadet  of  the  first 
class  could  not  have  exhibited  greater 
suavity.  The  lady  was  made  to  feel  at  per- 
fect ease.  After  considerable  talk  about 
the  work  in  hand,  Sheridan  said  to  Mrs. 
Darragh, — 

" '  I  have  an  idea  you  artists  get  3^our 
own  individuality  into  your  work.  I  have 
been  painted  by  artists  of  several  nationali- 
ties, but  never  by  a  woman.  The  Italian 
artist  made  me  look  like  a  brigand;  the 
Frenchman  made  me  resemble  iN^apoleon, 
between  whom  and  myself  there  is  no  physi- 
cal resemblance,  except,  perhaps,  in  height; 
the  Spaniard  made  me  look  like  two  or  three 
Mexican  generals  whom  I  have  met.  E^ow, 
madam,'  he  continued,  with  a  twinkle  in  his 
eye,  and  a  smile  that  illuminated  his  bronzed 
features,  '  I  am  confident  you  will  make  a 
good  piicture,  but  I  beg  you  will  not  make 
me  look  like  a  woman.' 

''  Mrs.  Darragh  brought  her  canvas  to 
Washington,  where  the  general  gave  her 
several  sittings.  He  saw  the  portrait  com- 
pleted in  every  detail  except  the  sabre,  and 
was  well  pleased  with  it.     A  few  weeks  prior 


7n 


1 78  llecoUections. 

to  his  fatal  sickness  he  sent  for  me,  and  after 
a  general  talk  about  the  portrait,  which  I 
had  recently  seen  while  visiting  Philadelphia, 
said  he  desired  to  have  the  old  sabre  which 
he  carried  through  the  war  painted  in  the 
picture,  and  he  related  to  me  its  history. 
The  scabbard  is  covered  on  both  sides  with 
the  names  of  the  ensrao^ements  in  which  the 
general  participated,  and  their  dates.  The 
original  scabbard,  however,  had  to  be  dis- 
carded during  the  war,, on  account  of  inju- 
ries received  in  action.  It  had  been  struck 
several  times  by  musket-balls  and  bruised 
in  three  or  four  places  by  being  kicked  or 
trampled  by  horses.  Finally  a  new  scabbard 
had  to  be  procured,  and  this  shows  signs  of 
hard  usage.  I  had  the  sabre  forwarded  to 
Mr.  Childs.  After  he  was  struck  down  by 
disease,  and  before  his  removal  from  Wash- 
ington to  I^onquitt,  the  general  sent  me  an 
inquiry  about  the  sabre,  and  received  the 
assurance  that  it  was  in  Mr.  Childs's  posses- 
sion and  would  be  carefully  guarded.  Its 
next  and  final  duty  was  to  rest  on  Sheridan's 
coffin.  After  his  death  the  artist  changed 
the  uniform  in  the  portrait  from  that  of  lieu- 
tenant-general to  that  of  general,  to  which 
rank  he  succeeded  by  act  of  Congress  while 
on  his  death-bed. 


West  Point.  179 

*'  The  same  artist  was  selected  to  paint 
General  Sherman,  but  before  it  was  finished 
members  of  the  general's  family  expressed 
a  desire  to  have  the  portrait  made  to  repre- 
sent him  as  he  looked  fifteen  years  ago.  The 
general  yielded  to  this  desire,  and  the  artist 
changed  the  face,  using  for  a  guide  the  por- 
trait of  Sherman  by  Huntington,  painted  in 
1874,  which  now  hangs  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment, and  which  General  Sherman  regards 
as  the  best  portrait  ever  made  of  him,  in 
which  judgment  Mrs.  Sherman  and  the 
familv  concurred."* 

From  the  ]^ew  York  Sun,  February  14, 
1888: 

THE  WEST  POINT  ''REPORT." 

''  Washington,  February  13. — The  Mili- 
tary Academy  Appropriation  Bill  is  expected 
to  go  through  both  Houses  this  year  without 

*  Writing  to  me,  under  date  of  New  York,  Septem- 
ber 18,  1889,  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  speaks  flattering!}'  of 
my  Recollections  of  Grant,  "  which,"  he  says,  "I  have 
read  with  all  the  more  profit  and  pleasure  because  I 
have  met  General  Sherman  here,  and  we  talked  much 
about  Grant,  whom  you  knew  so  well.  He  shows  in 
your  most  interesting  paragraphs  all  that  I  believed  him, 
— a  noble,  grand,  and  beautiful  hero,  raised  up  to  save 
his  country  in  her  dark  hour." 


1 80  Recollections, 

opposition,  and  possibly  even  without  dis- 
cussion, unless  with  a  view  to  giving  some 
members  an  opportunity  to  pay  a  compli- 
ment like  that  which  was  so  pleasantly  in- 
troduced by  General  Wheeler  recently,  when 
he  presented  to  the  House  the  Report  of  the 
Board  of  Visitors  for  the  past  year.  The 
distinguished  Alabama  cavalryman  and  Con- 
gressman is  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  a 
soldier  of  renown,  and  qualified  to  discuss 
with  professional  intelligence  the  important 
subject-matter  of  the  report,  which  is  that 
of  military  science  and  education.  Never- 
theless, representing  no  doubt  the  judgment 
of  his  colleagues  on  the  Board  of  Visitors, 
as  well  as  his  own,  he  committed  the  fortunes 
of  the  report  exclusively  to  the  weight  it 
would  carry  as  the  utterances  of  Mr.  George 
W.  Childs,  the  President  of  the  visitins:  bodv. 
General  Wheeler's  address,  as  reported  in 
full  in  the  Congressional  Record,  was  as 
follows  : 

"  ^  Mr.  Speaker,  in  piresenting  the  report 
of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  to 
the  Military  Acadeni}-,  I  desire  to  ask  present 
action  on  the  resolution  which  I  send  to  the 
Clerk's  desk. 

"  '  The  hi2:h  character  of  the  distino^uished 
President   of  the   Board   must    add    much 


West  Point  181 

weiii:ht  to  the  siio:iJ:estions  contained  in  the 
report. 

" '  They  are  made  by  a  man  whose  phil- 
anthropic generosity  is  not  limited  by  the 
boundaries  of  municipalities,  States,  sections, 
or  peoples,  but  extends  beyond  oceans,  to 
races  foreis^n  to  us  in  lancruao-e,  customs,  and 
ideas;  a  man  whose  purpose  in  life  is  to  do 
good  to  mankind,  and  to  help  the  weak  and 
the  lowly. 

" '  The  recommendations  of  such  a  man 
upon  the  subject  treated  of  in  the  report 
cannot  be  too  widely  disseminated.' 

"  On  examination  the  report,  which  is  now 
distributed  to  the  public,  is  really  found  to 
be  signed  not  only  by  Mr.  Childs  as  Presi- 
dent, but  by  General  Wheeler,  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent, by  W.  A.  Courtney,  Secretary,  and  by 
eisrht  other  srentlemen,  beo-inninoc  with  Gen- 
eral  P.  H.  Anderson,  of  Georgia,  and  ending 
with  the  Hon.  Ben.  Butterworth,  of  Ohio. 
There  is  also  a  minority  report  signed  by  Mr. 
George  H.  Bates,  of  Delaware.  It  is  further 
observable  that  the  plural  verb  is  always  used 
with  the  word  Board  as  a  subject  in  the  main 
report,  in  such  phrases  as  '  the  Board  are,' 
*  the  Board  think,'  'the  Board  feel,'  and  so 
on.  This  does  not  appear  to  be  a  mere  ex- 
tension of  the  editorial  we ;  yet,  as  will  be 

16 


182  Recolledio )  w. 

seen  by  the  speech  of  General  Wheeler,  that 
gentleman  preferred  to  efface  not  only  him- 
self, but  all  his  colleagues,  and  to  present 
the  report  as  that  of  President  Childs.  It 
is  doubtful,  also,  whether  any  preceding 
instance  could  be  quoted  of  so  direct  and 
high  a  compliment  as  his,  accompanying 
any  similar  occasion  of  presenting  an  annual 
report  of  a  Board  of  Visitors. 

"  The  resolution  submitted  by  General 
Wheeler  was  for  the  printing  of  the  usual 
five  thousand  extra  copies  of  the  report,  but 
it  was  accompanied  w^ith  the  unusual  pro- 
posal to  consider  the  resolution  at  once,  in- 
stead of  referring  it  to  the  Committee  on 
Printing.  General  Wheeler  politely  pointed 
out  that  there  was  a  peculiar  reason  for 
departing,  on  this  occasion,  from  the  ordi- 
nary course : 

"  '  It  is  not  often  that  we  have  reports  from 
a  gentleman  like  Mr.  George  W.  Childs, 
whose  grand  sympathetic  heart  and  bank 
account  are  always  tuned  to  the  same 
music;  but  as  the  gentleman  from  Georgia 
[Mr.  Blount]  insists  that  the  resolution  be 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Printing,  and 
as  the  Chairman  of  that  committee  assures 
me  it  shall  be  reported  back  very  promptly, 
I  will  interpose  no  objection.' 


West  Point.  183 

"  The  House  Committee  on  Military  Af- 
fairs adopted  without  a  moment's  hesitation 
or  a  single  change  the  report  prepared  by 
the  sub-committee  for  the  Military  Academy, 
which  exceeds  that  of  last  year,  items  being 
introduced  for  improving  the  wharf  and 
building  a  new  laundry.  Probably  still 
larger  appropriations  might  have  been  se- 
cured under  the  general  good-will  felt  for 
President  Childs,  as  expressed  by  General 
Wheeler. 

^'  The  annual  report  of  the  Board  is  an 
unusually  full  and  elaborate  document,  com- 
prising one  hundred  and  thirty-three  printed 
pages, 'and  rather  a  gala  aftair  is  made  of  it 
by  the  innovation  of  some  full-page  illustra- 
tions of  landscape  and  interior  views  at 
"West  Point." 


MEMORIALS 

TO 

SHAKESPEARE, 
HERBERT  AND    COWPER,    MILTON, 

BISHOPS 

ANDREWES  AND  KEN. 


IG*  185 


EXPLAWATOET. 


As  there  is  nothing,  however  remote  or  in- 
significant, connected  with  Shakespeare  that 
is  without  value  to  those  who,  with  Ben  Jon- 
son,  "•  love  the  man,"  or  "  do  reverence  his 
memory,"  I  have  thought  that  the  *' story" 
of  The  Memorial  Fountain  erected  at  Strat- 
ford-upon-Avon by  Mr.  George  W.  Childs 
would  be  neither  valueless  nor  uninteresting. 

For  the  compiling  of  this  Story  of  the 
Stratford  Fountain,  which  is  but  a  gathering 
and  putting  together  of  what  has  been  else- 
where said  and  written,  I  have  no  better 
warrant  than  that,  not  only  have  I  found 
therein  a  pleasant  occupation  for  some  leis- 
ure hours,  but  to  me  the  subject  seemed 
worthy  of  being  revived  from  the  newspapers 
— in  which,  through  patient  delving,  I  mainly 
found  it — and  of  receiving  a  more  permanent 
form.    Whatever  value  this  sketch  may  have 

187 


188  Explanatory. 

lies,  I  know,  solely  in  the  fact  that  it  tells, 
with  more  or  less  completeness,  the  Story 
of  the  Origin,  Building,  and  Dedication  of 
the  most  imposing  architectural  monument 
erected  in  any  country  to  the  genius  of 
Shakespeare.  There  must  be  both  pride  and 
pleasure  to  every  American  in  the  reflection 
that  this  Stratford  Memorial  is  the  gift  of 
a  fellow-citizen  who  in  i^ivino^  and  buildins: 
neither  gave  unwittingly,  nor  builded  better 
than  he  knew;  he  did  both  in  the  confident 
hope  and  faith,  I  am  convinced,  that  his  gift 
would  add  another  link — however  slis^ht — 
to  that  chain  of  brotherhood  between  Eng- 
lishmen and  Americans  which  so  many  of 
the  leading  minds  in  Religion,  in  Politics, 
in  Literature,  and  on  the  Stage  on  either 
side  of  the  Atlantic  have  been,  during  late 
3^ears,  so  earnestly  engaged  in  welding 
firmer,  and  closer,  and  stronger. 

In  selecting  that  which  is  herein  presented 
from  the  great  mass  of  material  in  the  pub- 
lic journals  of  the  day,  both  English  and 
American,  I  rejected  all  that  did  not  seem 
pertinent  to  the  objects  I  had  in  view,  where- 
of the  first  is  to  give  permanency  to  the  his- 
tory of  the  Stratford  Fountain,  and  whereof 
the  other  is  to  let  the  story  bear  record  to 


Explanatory.  189 

the  general  recognition  of  the  fine  motive 
which  inspired  the  gift.  If  I  have  retained 
anything  which  may  not  seem  germane  to 
these  objects,  and  which  should,  perhaps, 
have  been  rejected,  I  have  erred  only  through 
a  zealous  wish  to  present  as  much  evidence 
as  possible  of  the  sincerity  and  universality 
of  that  international  spirit  of  fraternity  to 
the  existence  of  which  the  newspapers  of 
the  Old  Country  and  of  the  ]!^ew  testified  so 
strongly  in  their  remarks  upon  Mr.  Childs's 
Shakespeare  Memorial. 

To  the  Storv  of  the  Fountain  >I  have 
deemed  it  not  inappropriate  to  add  brief 
accounts  of  certain  other  gifts  which,  in 
the  interest  of  the  same  broad  spirit  of  in- 
ternational brotherhood,  Mr.  Childs,  as  a 
representative  American,  has  presented,  at 
diflPerent  times,  to  England  and  to  the  Eng- 
lish people. 

L.  C.  D. 


SHAKESPEARE    MEMORIAL    FOUNTAIN, 
Stratford-upon-Avon. 


THE 

STRATF0RD-UP0N-4V0N  FOUNTAIN. 


THE  INCEPTION  AND  ERECTION  OF   THE 

MEMORIAL. 

In  the  autumn  of  1878  the  Very  Reverend 
Arthur  P.  Stanle}^  D.D.,  Dean  of  Westmin- 
ster, visited  the  United  States,  and  during 
his  sojourn  in  PhiLidelphia  was,  as  so  many 
distinguished  foreigners  previously  were  and 
have  since  been,  the  guest  of  Mr.  George 
W.  Childs.  In  the  course  of  an  after-din- 
ner talk  the  venerable  Dean,  whose  love  of 
the  literature  of  his  country  was  not  less 
sincere  than  his  knowledge  of  it  was  pro- 
found, spoke  feelingly  of  the  absence  of  any 
suitable  memorial  of  some  of  those  who  had 
laid  so  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of 
English  poetry.  Especially  he  spoke  of 
Shakespeare,  and  of  the  strange  neglect  of 
the  British-speaking  people  to  erect  an  ap- 
propriate monument  to  him  even  in  the 
place  of  his  birth.     The  Dean  of  Westmin- 

191 


192     The  Straff ord-upon- Avon  Fuuntaln. 

eter  was  greatly  impressed  by  what  he  had 
seen  and  heard  in  America,  and  particularly 
was  he  moved  by  the  noble  hospitality  of 
which  he  was  everywhere  the  recipient,  and 
which  he  was  modestly  pleased  to  think 
emanated  not  so  much  from  personal  regard 
for  himself  as  from  the  common  feeling  of 
kinship  which  he  felt  bound  the  peoples  of 
the  two  countries  together.  For  his  cousins 
across  the  sea  he  was  inspired  with  admira- 
tion, respect,  and  affection,  and  his  broad  and 
generous  sympathies  induced  him  to  think 
that  no  better  thing  could  be  done  by  Eng- 
lishmen or  Americans  than  to  streno-then  the 
belief  that  w^as  surely  growing  up  among 
their  leaders  of  thought  in  the  reality  of 
their  mutual  feeling  of  fraternity  and  fellows- 
ship. 

The  gift  of  Mr.  Childs  of  the  Herbert  and 
Cowper  Window  to  Westminster  Abbey  had 
been  suggested  by  Dean  Stanlej^  and  it  was 
on  the  occasion  to  which  reference  is  above 
made  that  this  eminent  divine  ventured  to 
state  to  his  host  that  a  memorial  of  similar 
or  other  character  of  Shakespeare  set  up  in 
the  Church  at  Stratford-upon-Avon  by  an 
American  would  have  a  certain  influence 
for  ffood  throuo-hout  Eno^land  and  America. 
Subsequently,  after  the  Dean's  return  to  his 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     193 

own  country,  Mr.  Cliikls  wrote  to  liim  to 
sav  that  he  had  considered  the  susforestiou 
of  placing  a  memorial  window  to  Shake- 
speare in  the  Church  by  the  Avon,  which  is 
the  Poet's  tomb,  and  that  he  would  be  pleased 
to  make  the  gift  upon  tlie  sole  condition  that 
Dean  Stanley  would  himself  not  only  de- 
termine what  form  it  should  assume,  but 
personally  undertake  the  execution  of  the 
donor's  purpose. 

In  a  letter  dated  December  3,  1878,  Dean 
Stanley  said,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Childs, — 

''With  regard  to  jour  generous  offer  of  the  window, 
will  you  let  me  delay  my  complete  answer  till  the  week 
after  next,  when  I  shall  hope  to  have  seen  the  Church  ? 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Stratford  being,  next  to 
Westminster  Abbey,  the  place  (I  believe)  most  fre- 
quently visited  by  Americans,  might  be  considered 
an  exceptional  locality." 

Subsequently,  on  December  18, 1878,  Dean 
Stanley  wrote,  from  Stratford-upon-Avon, — 

"My  dear  Mr.  Childs,  —  In  pursuance  of  my 
promise  I  have  come  here  to  look  at  the  Church  and 
see  what  place  there  would  be  for  the  window  which, 
in  accordance  with  my  suggestion,  you  so  kindly 
offered  to  give. 

"  I  find  that  on  one  side  of  the  chancel  there  is  a 
place  for  windows  containing  subjects  from  the  Old 
Testament,  of  which  one  has  already  been  erected 
I        n  17 


194     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

by  the  collective  contributions  of  Americans,  and  two 
others  remain  to  be  supplied.  It  would,  I  think,  be 
very  suitable  that  the  one  next  in  order  should  come 
from  Philadelphia.  It  consists  of  seven  or  eight  com- 
partments, and  1  would  suggest  that  as  the  window 
alongside  contains  The  Seven  Ages  of  Man,  taken  from 
different  characters  of  the  Old  Testament,  so  the  next 
should  contain  some  other  Shakespearian  subject  also 
taken  from  the  Old  Testament.  If  you  will  allow  me 
to  think  over  this,  I  will  do  my  best  for  your  generous 
intentions.  You  will  be  interested  in  learning  that  the 
last  visitor  to  Shakespeare's  home  before  my  arrival 
here  was  a  Philadelphian  ;  also  the  last  guest  whom  I 
entertained  in  London  before  I  left  to  deliver  my  ad- 
dress in  Birmingham  (which  was  on  the  History  of  the 
United  States)  was  your  excellent  Minister,  Mr.  John 
Welsh. 

"  We  have  been  much  gratified  in  England  by  the 
sympathy  shown  in  America  for  our  Queen. 

''  Yours,  with  all  kind  remembrances, 

"  A.  P.  Stanley." 

This  was  the  last  communication  which 
Mr.  Childs  received  from  the  Very  Rever- 
end Dean  of  Westminster  on  the  subject  of 
the  Shakespearian  Memorial  Window,  it  be- 
ing understood  between  them  that  a  window 
such  as  recommended  should  be  placed  in 
the  Church  of  Holy  Trinity,  Dean  Stanley 
undertaking  to  have  it  designed  and  exe- 
cuted. 

The  onerous  and  exacting  character  of  his 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     195 

public  duties  prevented  the  Dean  proceeding 
immediately  with  the  work,  and  it  was  not 
lono^  afterwards  that  failino^  health  interfered 
with  his  purpose,  and  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  mid-July  of  1881,  brought  to  a 
close  for  the  time  beins;  the  intention  of  Mr. 
Childs  to  carry  out  his  reverend  and  vener- 
able friend's  su2:2:e3tion. 

In  1886,  however,  it  was  proposed,  and  a 
Committee  was  appointed  by  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  lovers  of  Shakespeare  in 
England,  to  restore  the  church  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon  in  which  the  bones  of  Shake- 
speare lie.  Appeals  for  contributions  to  se- 
cure the  execution  of  this  object  were  made, 
not  only  to  the  cultivated  people  of  Great 
Britain,  but  to  those  of  the  United  States 
as  well.  Among  others  who  were  greatly 
interested  in  the  plan  of  restoration  was 
James  Macaulay,  M.D.,  an  honored  and  es- 
teemed British  scholar,  editor  of  The  Leisure 
Hour.  Dr.  Macaulav,  who  is  one  of  the  old- 
est  friends  of  Mr.  Childs,  personally  appealed 
to  him  to  contribute  to  the  Restoration  Fund. 
To  this  appeal  Mr.  Childs  promptly  replied 
that  he  would  o-ive  whatever  sum  Dr.  Ma- 
caulay  should  sucrsrest  as  desirable  and  befit- 
ting;  but  before  an  answer  was  received  to 
this  generous  offer  the  Restoration  Commit- 


196     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

tee  disagreed  in  respect  to  the  character  and 
extent  of  the  work  to  be  done,  and  the 
entire  scheme  failed  of  accomplishment. 
Subsequently,  on  September  9,  1886,  Dr. 
Macaulaj  wrote  to  Mr.  Childs,  acquainting 
him  with  the  failure  of  the  Committee  to 
carry  out  the  contemplated  alteration  or 
restoration  of  Holy  Trinity  Church,  and 
advising  him  that  the  request  for  a  contri- 
bution to  that  object  was  withdrawn.  In 
this  letter  Dr.  Macaulav,  however,  su2:o:ested 
that,  if  his  friend  had  vet  a  desire  as  an 
American  to  pay  tribute  to  the  genius  of 
Shakespeare  in  his  own  town,  he  could  do  it 
in  no  better  way  than  by  erecting  a  drinking- 
fountain  to  his  memory,  "  to  be  placed  in 
the  Market  Square,  where  there  is  none, 
and  which  would  be  a  handsome  thing  from 
an  American."  Dr.  ATacaulay  added,  ''  I 
think  I  once  suggested  this  to  you,  and  that 
it  might  be  associated  with  Shakespeare  by 
a  motto  taken  from  his  works.  It  would  be 
a  useful  gift  both  to  man  and  beast." 

Mr.  Childs,  it  appears,  accepted  tliis  sug- 
gestion readily,  it  being  in  happy  accord 
with  the  spirit  in  which  he  had  previously 
contributed  the  Memorial  Window  to  the 
genius  of  the  Christian  poets,  Herbert  and 
Cowper,  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  subse- 


The  Straff ord-iipon- A  von  Fountain.     197 

quently,  the  ^lilton  Window,  in  St.  Mar- 
garet's, Westminster.  It  evidently  seemed 
to  him  to  afford  another  opportunity  to  add 
to  the  ties  of  fraternity  and  friendship  be- 
tween Engkmd  and  America,  an  object  which 
appeared  most  desirable,  and  which  being 
accomplished  in  the  Queen's  Jubilee  Year 
would  have  the  greater  significance  as  be- 
ing a  recognition  by  Americans  of  Victoria's 
brilliant  and  useful  reis^n  of  half  a  centurv. 
Mr.  Cliilds's  hearty  compliance  with  Dr. 
Macaulay's  suggestion  was  commmiicated  by 
the  latter  o:entleman  to  Sir  Arthur  Ilodfrson, 
Mayor  of  Stratford-upon-Avon,  who,  on  the 
loth  of  December,  wrote  to  the  editor  of 
The  Leisure  Hour  the  subjoined  letter: 

"  My  dear  Sir, — Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter: 
the  name  of  Mr.  Childs  is  no  great  surprise  to  me,  and 
I  shall  he  delighted  to  announce  his  most  generous  offer, 
which  will  supply  a  much  and  long  needed  want  in  this 
horough,  and  to  move  the  acceptance  of  Mr.  Childs's 
offer  at  the  meeting  of  my  Council  on  the  21st  instant." 

On  the  next  dav  notification  was  sent  bv 
the  Town  Clerk  to  the  members  of  the  Cor- 
poration Council : 

''  The  Mayor  requests  your  attendance  at  a  special 
meeting  of  the  Council  to  he  holden  at  the  Town  Hall, 
on  Tuesday,  the  21st  day  of  December,  instant,  at  11.30 

17* 


198     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

o'  the  clock  in  the  forenoon  precisely,  where  the  follow- 
ing business  is  proposed  to  be  enacted :  .  .  . 

"The  Mayor  to  read  a  letter,  dated  December  8, 
1886,  from  James  Macaulay,  Esq.,  M.D.,  the  editor  of 
The  Leisure  Hour,  London,  conveying  an  offer  from 
George  "NV.  Childs,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  to  the  Mayor 
and  Corporation  of  Stratford-upon-Avon  of  a  Public 
Drinking-Fountain  as  '  the  gift  of  an  American  citizen 
to  the  town  of  Shakespeare  in  the  Jubilee  Year  of 
Queen  Victoria.' 

"The  Mayor  to  move  that  Mr.  Childs's  kind  and 
generous  offer  be  accepted,  with  grateful  thanks,  by 
this  Corporation." 

On  the  22d  of  December  Sir  Arthur  Hodo:- 
son  wrote  to  Dr.  Macaulay  : 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  much  pleasure  in  enclosing 
copy  of  a  resolution  unanimously  and  with  acclamation 
adopted  yesterday  at  a  full  and  special  meeting  of  the 
Council  of  the  Corporation  of  Stratford-upon-Avon." 

The  following  is  the  resolution  above  re- 
feiTed  to : 

"That  Mr.  George  W.  Childs's  (of  Philadelphia) 
kind  and  generous  offer  of  a  Public  Drinking-Fountain, 
'  a  gift  to  the  Corporation  of  Stratford-upon-Avon  of 
an  American  citizen  in  the  Jubilee  Year  of  Queen 
Victoria,'  be  accepted  by  the  Corporation  with  grateful 
thanks." 

The  London  Times  of  the  22d  of  Decem- 
ber, under  the  caption  of  the  "  Queen's  Ju- 


The  Sir atford-ujwn- Avon  Fountain.     199 

bilee,"  2:ave  tliis  account  of  tlie   Council's 
proceedings : 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Stratford-upon-Avon  Town 
Council  yesterday  afternoon,  a  letter  Avas  read  from 
Dr.  Macaulay,  editor  of  The  Leisure  Hour,  stating 
that  he  was  authorized  by  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  of 
Philadelphia,  to  offer  for  the  acceptance  of  the  Corpo- 
ration a  handsome  Drinking-Fountain  as  the  gift  of  an 
American  citizen  to  the  town  of  Shakespeare  in  the 
Jubilee  Year  of  Queen  Victoria.  Mr.  Childs  expressed 
the  hope  that  the  fountain  would  be  evidence  of  the 
good-will  of  the  two  nations  who  have  the  fame  and 
works  of  the  poet  as  their  common  heritage.  Dr. 
Macaulay  added  that  Mr.  Samuel  Timmins,  of  Bir- 
mingham, had  kindly  undertaken  to  obtain  from  an 
eminent  architect  designs  of  the  proposed  structure  for 
the  approval  of  the  Town  Council.  The  Corporation 
passed  a  hearty  resolution  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Childs  for 
his  munificent  gift." 

On  the  day  after  the  passage  of  this  reso- 
lution the  Xew  York  Herald  published  from 
its  London  correspondent  this  special  de- 
spatch : 

"The  Corporation  of  Stratford-upon-Avon  has  voted 
the  heartiest  thanks  of  the  town  to  Mr.  George  W. 
Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  for  his  gift  of  a  Drinking- 
Fountain  to  the  place.  In  his  letter  presenting  the 
gift  Mr.  Childs  expresses  the  hope  that  the  fountain 
will  prove  an  evidence  of  good-will  between  the  two 
nations  having  the  fame  and  works  of  Shakespeare  as 
a  common  heritage." 


200     Tlie  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

Witli  reference  to  this  despatch,  on  its 
editorial  page  the  Herald,  in  its  issue  of  the 
same  date,  said, — 

"Mr.  Georue  W.  Childs  has  given  a  Drinking-Foun- 
tain  to  Stratford-upon-Avon,  'as  evidence  of  good-will 
between  the  two  nations  having  the  fame  and  VForks 
of  Shakespeare  as  a  common  heritage.' 

"  It  was  a  graceful  act  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Childs, 
and  is  gracefully  acknowledged  by  the  Corporation 
of  Stratford-upon-Avon,  as  will  be  seen  in  our  foreign 
despatches.  Such  little  acts  of  courtesy  are  not  the 
least  effective  of  incidents  in  sustaining  pleasant  inter- 
national relations." 


On  December  24,  1886,  the  same  journal 
published  the  subjoined  special  despatch 
from  its  Stratford  correspondent : 

"  Stratford-upox-Avon,  December  23,  1886. — The 
name  of  the  great  American  philanthropist,  George  W. 
Childs,  will  henceforth  be  associated  here  with  the 
name  of  Shakespeare. 

"  At  the  meeting  of  the  Town  Council  on  Tuesday 
the  Mayor,  Sir  Arthur  Hodgson,  while  stating  that 
Mr.  Childs  had  offered  to  present  Shakespeare's  birth- 
place with  a  magnificent  Drinking-Fountain  in  honor 
of  the  Queen's  Jubilee,  referring  to  a  letter  which  he 
held  in  his  hand,  added,  'The  donor  simply  asks  the 
Corporation  to  furnish  water,  and  at  night  lights.  Mr. 
Childs  would  submit  to  the  Corporation  several  designs 
for  their  choice,  and  he  suggested  that  the  fountain 
should  be  dedicated  either  on  the  next  birthday  of  the 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     201 

poet,  or  on  June  20,  the  anniversary  of  the  Queen's 
accession  to  the  throne  fifty  years  before.' 

"Alderman  Bird,  amid  renewed  cheers  for  America 
and  Mr.  Childs,  seconded  the  Mayor's  motion  of  ac- 
ceptance and  thanks.  In  the  course  of  some  vei-y 
euloiristic  remarks  concernino;  the  donor  the  Alderman 
said,  'The  hitter's  generosities  are  widely  known  to 
the  civilized  world.  Especially  Englishmen  remem- 
bered Mr.  Childs's  gift  of  an  American  Window  to 
Westminster  Abbey  in  memory  of  the  poets  Herbert 
and  Cowper,  which  had  an  additional  interest  from  the 
fact  that  the  late  Dean  Stanley  furnished  the  inscription 
to  it." 

After  a  conference  the  Council  ao:reed 
to  devote  Jubilee  Day  to  the  ceremonies  of 
receiving  the  gift. 

The  Illustrated  London  News  of  Febrnarv 
26  contained  the  ensuins:  reference  to  the 
gift  by  the  eminent  author,  George  Augustus 
Sala : 

"Mr.  G.  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  U.S.A.,  well 
known  not  only  for  his  enterprise  as  a  newspaper  pro- 
prietor, but  for  the  splendid  hospitality  which  he  has 
so  long  dispensed  to  travellers  in  the  States, — he  was 
the  friend  of  Dickens  and  of  Thackeray, — has  made  a 
graceful  and  generous  Jubilee  gift  to  the  town  of  Strat- 
ford-upon-Avon. Some  time  since,  Mr.  Childs  offered 
through  Dr.  Macaulay,  the  editor  of  The  Leisure  Hour, 
to  present  a  Drinking-Fountain  to  Stratford,  as  the 
offering  of  an  American  citizen  to  the  town  of  Shake- 


202     The  Straff ord-upon- Avon  Fountain. 

speare  in  tlie  Jubilee  Year  of  the  good  Queen  Victoria. 
The  offer  was  gratefully  accepted  hy  the  Corporation  ; 
and  a  few  days  since  the  site  for  the  fountain  was  fixed 
upon  hy  a  committee  of  taste,  including  the  Mayor,  Dr. 
Macaulay,  Mr.  Samuel  Tim m ins,  Mr.  Charles  Flower, 
and  several  members  of  the  Town  Council,  accom- 
panied by  the  Borough  Surveyor.  It  was  finally  de- 
cided to  erect  the  fountain  in  the  large  open  space  in 
Rother  Street,  which  is  midway  between  the  Great 
AVestern  Railway  Station  and  the  central  part  of  the 
town. 

"  Mr.  G.  W.  Childs  has  already  won  golden  opinions 
of  the  English  people  by  his  munificence  in  placing  in 
Westminster  Abbey  a  noble  window  of  stained  glass 
in  memory  of  two  English  poets  and  w'orthies,  George 
Herbert  and  AVilliam  Cowper. 

"G.A.  Sala." 

On  February  17,  1887,  the  New  York 
Herald's  special  correspondent  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon  cabled  these  particulars  with 
regard  to  the  proposed  gift : 

"  Sir  Arthur  Hodgson,  the  Mayor,  Dr.  Macaulay, 
editor  of  The  Leisure  Ho^ir,  the  friend  and  corresp»ond- 
ent  of  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  with  members  of  the  local 
Town  Council,  met  here  to-day  and  decided  upon  the 
site  and  the  design  for  a  Drinking-Fountain,  which  is 
the  Jubilee  gift  of  Mr.  Childs  to  Shakespeare's  tOAvn. 
As  hitherto  cabled  to  the  Herald,  the  design  is  by  the 
architect  Cossins,  of  Birmingham.  The  structure  will 
be  of  granite,  sixty  feet  high,  the  base  being  twenty- 
eight  feet  in  diameter,  and  in  the  upper  part  four.  It 
is  to  be  faced  by  an  antique  clock,  with  an  archway 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     203 

under  the  centre  cut  through  the  base  and  wide  enoucrh 
for  one  vehicle.  Underneath,  beside  a  drinkincr-trouirh 
for  horses,  is  a  smaller  one  for  dogs.  At  the  entrances 
are  cups. 

"Upon  the  panel  of  the  base  is  the  inscription,  'The 
gift  of  an  American  citizen,  George  William  Childs,  of 
Philadelphia,  to  the  town  of  Shakespeare,  in  the  Jubi- 
lee Year  of  Queen  Victoria.'  There  are  to  be  four  mot- 
toes cast.  One  will  be  from  Washington  Irving" s  de- 
scription of  Stratford-upon-Avon  ;  another  will  be  this 
Shakespearian  line  from  Timon  :  '  Honest  water  that 
ne'er  left  any  man  in  the  mire.'  The  remaining  two 
are  not  yet  known.  They  are  probably  to  be  selected 
by  Mr.  Childs. 

"  The  design  harmonizes  well  with  the  principal 
tower  of  the  Shakespearian  memorial  buildings.  The 
site  is  in  the  open  market-place,  near  Rother  Street, 
midway  between  the  centre  of  the  town  and  the  great 
railway  station,  and  within  five  minutes'  walk  of 
Shakespeare's  house  and  the  church-yard." 

The  Council  of  Stratford  proceeded  with 
the  work  with  commendable  enero^y.  In  its 
mid-month  issue  of  the  ensuing  June  the 
Illustrated  London  News  published  a  sketch 
of  the  fountain,  with  the  accompanj'ing  in- 
teresting description  of  it,  which  the  I^ew 
York  World  published  subsequently  : 

"A  lofty,  spire-like,  and  highly  ornamental  Drink- 
ing-Fountain,  with  clock  tower,  is  now  being  built  in 
the  Rother  Market,  Stratford-upon-Avon,  at  the  cost 
of  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  an  Ameri- 


204     The  Stratford-ui^on-Avon  Fountain. 

can  citizen,  who,  by  this  munificent  and  noljle  ^ift  to 
the  birthplace  of  Shakespeare,  supplies  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  with  what  has  long  been  felt  to  be  one  of 
its  most  pressing  needs.  It  will  be  a  durable  and 
beautiful  memorial  of  the  friendly  feeling  existing 
between  the  two  nations  in  this  Jubilee  Year  of  our 
Queen.  The  base  of  the  tower  is  square  on  plan,  with 
the  addition  of  boldly  projecting  buttresses  placed 
diagonally  at  the  four  corners,  terminating  with  acutely 
pointed  gablets  surmounted  by  a  lion  bearing  the  arms 
of  Great  Britain  alternately  with  the  American  eagle 
associated  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  On  the  north 
face  is  a  polished  granite  basin,  having  the  outline  of 
a  large  segment  of  a  circle,  into  which  a  stream  of 
water  is  to  flow  constantly  from  a  bronze  spout ;  on 
the  east  and  west  sides  are  large  troughs,  of  the  same 
general  outline  and  material,  for  the  use  of  horses  and 
cattle,  and  beneath  these  smaller  troughs  for  sheep  and 
dogs.  On  the  south  side  is  a  door  affording  admission 
to  the  interior,  flanked  by  two  shallow  niches,  in  one 
of  which  will  be  placed  a  barometer  and  in  the  other 
a  thermometer,  both  of  the  best  construction.  Imme- 
diately over  the  basins  and  the  door  are  moulded 
pointed  arches,  springing  from  dwarf  columns,  wnth 
carved  capitals.  The  tympanum  of  each  arch  is  filled 
by  geometric  tracery,  profusely  enriched  with  carvings 
of  foliage. 

"  The  next  story  of  the  tower  has  on  each  face  a 
triple  arcade  with  moulded  pointed  trefoiled  arches  on 
slender  shafts.  The  arches  are  glazed,  and  light  a 
small  chamber,  in  which  the  clock  is  to  be  placed.  At 
the  corners  are  cylindrical  turrets,  terminating  in  con- 
ical spirelets  in  two  stages,  the  surfaces  of  the  cones 
enriched  with  scale-like  ornament.  In  the  next  story 
are  the  four  dials  of  the  clock,  under  crocketed  gables, 


The  Straff oixl-upon- Avon  Fountain.     205 

with  finials  representing  '  Puck,'  '  Mustard-seed,'  '  Peas- 
blossom,'  and  '  Cobweb.'  The  clock-faces  project 
slightly  from  a  cylindrical  tower  flanked  by  four  other 
smaller  three-quarter  attached  turrets  of  the  same 
plan ;  from  the  main  central  cylinder  springs  a  spire 
of  a  slightly  concave  outline,  and  the  four  turrets 
have  similar  but  much  smaller  spirelets,  all  five  spring- 
ing from  the  same  level,  and  all  terminating  in  lofty 
gilded  vanes.  Immediately  below  the  line  of  spring- 
ing is  a  band  of  panelling  formed  of  narrow  trefoiled 
arches.  The  central  spire  has  on  four  opposite  sides 
gableted  spire-lights,  and,  at  about  one-third  of  its 
height,  a  continuous  band  of  narrow  lights  to  spread 
the  sound  of  the  clock-bells.  The  height  from  the  road 
to  the  top  of  the  vane  is  sixty  feet.  The  clock  will  be 
illuminated  at  night. 

"  The  materials  of  which  the  monument  is  being 
constructed  are  of  the  most  durable  kind, — Peterhead 
granite  for  the  base  and  troughs,  and  for  the  super- 
structure a  very  hard  and  durable  stone  of  a  delicate 
gray  color  from  Bolton  Wood,  in  Yorkshire." 


Mr.  Childs,  iiaturallv  desirins:  that  the 
name  of  an  American  poet  should  be  asso- 
ciated Avith  the  dedication  of  the  memorial, 
suofsrested  to  Dr.  Oliver  AVendell  Holmes, 
whose  sympathies  for  the  great  master  of 
the  English  Drama  are  known  to  lie  so  broad 
and  deep,  that  he  should  write  a  poem  ap- 
propriate to  the  occasion.  The  good  and 
genial  poet  at  first  stoutly  demurred,  plead- 
ing that  his  muse,  like  himself,  was  growing 

18 


20G     The  Siratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

old,  and  delighted  most  in  restful,  inactive 
ease  by  the  sea.  But,  being  further  urged. 
Dr.  Holmes,  on  the  17th  day  of  August, 
1887,  ^Yrote,  from  Beverly  Farms,  Massa- 
chusetts, to  his  old  friend  in  these  words : 

"  Dear  Mr.  Childs, — I  have  written  a  poem  for  the 
celebration  of  the  opening  of  the  fountain. 

"  There  are  nine  verses,  each  of  nine  lines,  as  it  now 
stands.  I  mean  to  revise  it  carefully,  transcribe  it, 
and  send  you  the  copy  in  the  course  of  this  week. 

"  I  have  taken  pains  with  it  and  I  hope  you  will  like 
it.  Please  do  not  take  the  trouble  of  replying  before 
you  get  the  poem. 

"  Always  truly  yours, 

"  0.  W.  Holmes." 


Two  days  later  the  poem  as  it  appears 
in  the  subsequent  accounts  of  the  celebra- 
tion was  received  by  Mr.  Childs.  Its  many 
classical  allusions  testify  as  much  to  the 
generous  culture  of  the  author's  mind  as 
does  the  rare  beauty  of  his  verse  to  his 
poetic  genius. 

In  the  Brooklyn  Earfle  there  appeared  while 
the  fountain  was  still  building,  under  the 
caption  of  "  Childs  at  Avon,"  an  article  as 
brilliant  in  manner  as  it  was  scholarly  in 
matter.  The  Avriter,  who  modestly  hid  his 
identitv  under  the  initial  H.,  and  of  wdiose 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     207 

paper  we   make   this   free,   brief  abstract, 
said, — 

"  If  no  Shakespeare  had  been  born  and  lived  and 
died  at  Stratford-upon-Avon,  I  should  still  remember 
it  as  one  of  the  most  charming  spots  in  Warwickshire. 
Often  when  staying  at  Leamiagton  have  I  set  out  early 
on  a  summer  morning  and  spent  my  day  by  the  banks 
of  Avon  and  visited  the  house  where  he  was  born,  in- 
cluding the  low-ceiling  bedroom  in  which  he  first  saw 
the  light  when  Mary  Arden  brought  him  into  the 
world  in  which,  after  his  death,  he  was  to  be  the  most 
mysterious  and  inspired  of  teachers.  Many  an  hour 
have  I  spent  in  the  beautiful  parish  church  of  Holy 
Trinity  at  Stratford,  reading  the  epitaph  upon  his 
grave,  and  feeling,  with  a  much-sneered-at  poet,  '  Satan' 
Montgomery,  whom  Macaulay  so  pitilessly  criticised, 
that  I,  for  once,  could 

*  Tread  tte  ground  by  genius  often  trod, 
Nor  feel  a  nature  more  akin  to  God.' 

''  The  gift  of  Mr.  George  W.  Ciiilds,  of  Philadelphia, 
of  a  public  drinking-fountain  in  honor  of  Shakespeare, 
to  the  town  of  Stratford-upon-Avon,  is  memorable  as 
being  a  tribute  to  the  Queen  of  Shakespeare's  nation 
on  her  Jubilee. 

"  The  first  thought  that  strikes  me — for  I  leave  the 
noble  benefactions  of  Mr.  Childs  for  the  latter  part  of 
this  article — is  how  the  immortal  Shakespeare  would 
have  stood  amazed  had  he  beheld  this  errand  water- 
fountain  erected  to  his  memory.  Although  he  praises 
water  in  the  words  '  Honest  water  that  ne'er  left  any 
man  in  the  mire,'  which  is  to  be  one  of  the  inscrip- 
tions on  Mr.  Childs's  memorial  drinking-fountain,  the 
habits  of  his  time  were  certainly  not  in  favor  of  water 


208     The  StratJord-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

as  a  beverage.  There  were  many  in  that  a'^G,  like  Sir 
Walter  Raleifrh,  avIio  abhorred  drunkenness  and  de- 
nounced  it  witli  as  much  cnn)liasis  as  Kin<];  James  I. 
did  th&  tobacco  which  Raleigh  extolled  with  enthusi- 
asm. But  it  would  have  taken  a  long  journey,  I  think, 
to  have  found  a  teetotaler  in  England  in  the  days  of 
Shakespeare.  '  Good  Queen  Bess'  drank  ale  at  break- 
fast. King  James  rolled  drunk  from  his  throne. 
Shakespeare  himself  was  thoroughly  convivial,  though 
not  a  drinker  to  excess.  He  lived  like  the  men  of  his 
time,  enjoyed  his  social  glass  of  sack  or  canary  with 
Ben  Jonson,  or  Burbage  and  other  authors  or  actors, 
and.  no  doubt,  sometimes  woke  with  a  headache  next 
morning.  There  is  nothing  disrespectful  to  his  memory 
to  say  that  his  early  death  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  has 
been  generally  attributed  to  the  effects  of  a  convivial 
evening.  A  recent  Shakespearian  enthusiast,  I\Irs.  Dall, 
says,  in  her  '  Handbook  to  Shakespeare,'  '  The  pleasant 
days  went  on  for  a  few  weeks.  Jonson  and  Drayton 
came  to  see  Shakespeare,  and  very  likely  went  to  the 
old  inn  where  he  had  been  accustomed  to  watch  the 
antics  of  a  "fool,"  that  he  might  immortalize  him  in 
the  company  of  Sly,  Naps,  Turf,  and  Pimpernell.  The 
hilarity  of  the  party  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
villagers,  for  when,  in  March,  1616,  the  poet  was 
stricken  with  fever,  the  rumor  ran  that  it  came  from 
too  much  drinking  with  his  friends.'  He  died  on  the 
23d  of  April. 

"  But  if,  as  I  have  ventured  to  suggest,  Shakespeare 
would  have  been  amazed  at  a  water-fountain  erected  to 
his  memory,  hewould  probably  have  been  still  more 
avstonished  at  such  poor  relations  as  dogs  and  horses 
participating  with  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  benefit  of 
it.  Such  is  Mr.  Childs's  arrangement,  and  I  think  it 
indicates  the  true  humanity  of  his  nature.     The  dog 


Tiie  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     209 

is  the  only  animal  that  will  forsake  his  own  kind  for 
the  sake  of  man  and  will  die  upon  his  master's  grave. 
There  are  miscreants  and  scoundrels  in  all  races,  and 
the  canine  is  not  an  exception.  But  there  are  as  many 
virtuous  dogs  as  virtuous  men,  and  from  them  we  may 
learn  affection,  patience,  long-suffering,  unselfishness, 
and  friendship  and  fidelity  till  death.  No  wonder 
that  the  poor  Indian  of  Pope's  '  Essay  on  Man,' 

*  Whose  soul  proud  Science  never  taught  to  stray 

Far  as  the  solar  walk  or  milky  way, 
«  »  «-  *  *  * 

Yet  thinks,  admitted  to  that  equal  sky, 
His  faithful  dog  shall  bear  him  company.' 

"  Let  us  hope  that  if  the  great  soul  of  Shakespeare 
looks  down  on  Queen  Victoria's  Jubilee  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon  he  will  approve  of  Mr.  Childs's  munificent 
gift  to  the  corporation  of  which  his  family,  especially 
his  father,  John  Shakespeare,  were  ancient  and  honor- 
able members,  even  though  it  has  embraced  the  thirsty 
souls  of  dogs  and  horses  as  well  as  of  men,  women, 
and  children. 

"  Of  Mr.  Childs,  whom  I  have  never  seen,  it  is  im- 
possible for  any  public-spirited  mind  of  any  nationality 
to  think  too  highly.  He  is  not  a  flatterer  of  English 
noblemen,  but  a  benefactor,  first  to  his  own  people  and 
then  a  hospitable  host  to  distinguished  foreigners.  In 
fact,  Mr.  Childs  is  away  ahead  in  wealth  and  respecta- 
bility of  most  of  the  notables  to  whom  he  has  extended 
his  hospitality.  Beginning  as  an  errand-boy,  when  he 
went  from  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia,  in  mere  child- 
hood, he  became  printer,  bookseller,  publisher,  and 
newspaper  proprietor  by  that  resolute  virtue  of  perse- 
verance and  honesty  which  overcomes  the  world,  and^ 
while  some  may  envy  his  prosperity,  no  one  can  dis- 
o  18* 


210     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Founta'ni. 

pute  that  he  has  earned  it  Ijy  a  life  of  integrity  and 
industry  such  as  few  even  in  America  have  equalled. 
Upon  the  fountain  in  honor  of  Shakespeare  at  Strat- 
ford-upon-Avon will  stand  the  words,  'The  gift  of  an 
American  citizen;'  and  this  reminds  me  of  the  words 
of  the  late  Dean  Stanley,  when  he  visited  this  country 
for  the  first  and  only  time  in  1878,  referring  to  Mr. 
Childs's  Memorial  Window  in  his  abbey  to  George 
Herbert  and  William  Cowper:  '  There  is  in  Westmin- 
ster Abbey  a  window  dear  to  American  hearts  because 
erected  by  an  honored  citizen  of  Philadelphia.'  It 
miirht  seem  stransfe  that  the  gift  should  be  made  in  the 
Centennial  Year  of  American  Independence,  but  Mr. 
Childs  has  the  right  idea  of  the  commonwealth  of 
letters,  and  believes  that  the  great  writers  of  the  Eng- 
lish tongue  belong  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  English- 
speaking  races,  wherever  they  may  be  ;  and  as  he  did 
honor  to  George  Herbert  and  William  Cowper,  so  now 
he  has  done  honor  to  the  greater  name  of  Shakespeare, 
who  belongs  to  no  country,  but  is  the  admiration  of  all 
civilized  races, 

"Mr.  George  W.  Childs's  fountain  completes  the 
homage  which  Americans  have  paid  to  Shakespeare. 
Years  ag-o,  when  I  talked  to  an  old  woman  who  showed 
me  over  the  house  he  was  born  in,  she  said,  in  answer 
to  a  question,  that  Americans  seemed  to  take  most 
interest  in  it.  The  case  of  Miss  Delia  Bacon  is  most 
pathetic,  although  I  believe  it  was  not  her  Baconian 
theory  which  made  her  so  unhappy.  She  was  a  woman 
of  singular  talent,  coming  from  one  of  the  most  big- 
brained  families  of  New  England.  An  early  disap- 
pointment had  made  her  feel  the  need  of  an  eccentric 
enthusiasm,  and  by  the  kind  and  very  unusual  permis- 
sion of  the  Vicar  of  Stratford  she  was  allowed  to  pass 
whole  niffihts  in  the  church  wherein  the  bones  were 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain,     211 

laid  which  he  forbade  strangers  to  remove,  but  not 
to  keep  their  vigils  by.  Although  Miss  Bacon  was 
hallucinated,  her  '  Philosophy  of  Shakespeare's  PLays,' 
introduced  by  Hawthorne,  elicited  the  praise  of  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson.  Her  special  vagary  was  that  Shake- 
speare had  not  been  Shakespeare  and  that  Francis 
Bacon  was  the  real  Shakespeare,  and  so  the  idol  of  her 
mind  was  destroyed  by  her  own  imagination.  As  I 
said,  she  was  not  alone  in  this  ridiculous  theory,  bat  it 
is  sad  to  think  of  the  lonely,  enthusiastic  woman  wor- 
shipping night  and  day  at  the  shrine  of  a  god  whom 
she  would  end  by  disbelieving  in  altogether.  Yet 
Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  was  not  much  wiser  when  he 
said  of  Shakespeare,  '  Does  God  inspire  an  idiot?' 

"Mr.  Childs's  gift  and  its  acceptance  by  the  corpo- 
ration of  Stratford  set  the  seal,  at  any  rate,  to  our 
American  belief  in  the  identity  as  well  as  the  great- 
ness of  Shakespeare.  His  will  more  than  ever  be  the 
shrine  which  American  travellers,  with  Washington 
Irving's  description  of  Stratford  in  tiieir  hands,  will 
visit.  It  is  said  tliat  in  Virginia,  in  a  church-yard 
sheltered  by  southern  foliage,  there  is  a  tombstone 
with  the  inscription  commemorative  of  a  man  who 
died  in  the  seventeenth  century:  'One  of  the  pall- 
bearers of  William  Shakespeare,'  The  only  relic  of  the 
man  I  have  read  of  is  a  pair  of  gauntlets  possessed  by 
an  American,  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  honored  of 
Shakespearian  scholars  and  critics,  Dr.  Horace  Howard 
Furness,  of  Philadelphia.  If  it  be  so,  it  only  confirms 
the  fact  that  the  Americans  have  been  his  greatest  and 
most  dispassionate  admirers,  even  if  the  Germans  were 
the  first  to  discern  his  singular  yet  universal  genius, 
and  are  still  the  most  enthusiastic  witnesses  of  his 
plays.  In  France,  also,  M.  Taine  and  other  great 
writers,  including   Victor    Hugo,    have   been   earnest 


212     The  Siraiford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

lovers  of  Shakespeare  ;  but  when  Eniflish  or  American 
tragic  actors  have  phiyed  his  principal  characters  in 
Paris,  they  have  found  far  less  appreciative  audiences 
than  they  have  in  Berlin  or  Frankfort  or  any  other 
German  city.  At  any  rate,  Mr.  Clnlds  has  helped  to 
make  one  picturesque  little  town  by  a  beautiful  river 
in  England  more  famous  than  even  Shakespeare's 
name  had  made  it  before,  and  henceforward  no  one 
who  visits  England  will  leave  it  without  spending  a 
few  hours,  at  least,  in  the  quiet  town  of  Stratford- 
upon-Avon." 

DEDICATION   OF   THE   FOUNTAIN. 

On  October  17,  1887,  the  fountain  was 
dedicated  with  imposing  ceremony,  an  ex- 
haustive report  of  which  was  published  on 
the  following  Frida}^  in  the  Stratford-upon- 
Avon  Herald,  and  which  is  here  presented 
anew  from  that  journal  : 

"  All  things  combined  to  give  ^clclt  to  the  important 
event  of  Monday  last, — the  inauguration  of  the  hand- 
some fountain  given  by  Mr.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia. 
It  was  a  happy  thought  of  that  prominent  and  re- 
spected citizen  to  arrange  that  this  splendid  memorial 
of  American  admiration  for  and  sympathy  with  Eng- 
land's greatest  poet  should  take  place  in  the  Jubilee 
Year  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign  ;  and  it  was  also  a 
happy  idea  to  secure  the  greatest  of  English  actors  to 
carry  out  the  important  function.  So  distinguished  an 
assemblage  of  gentlemen  has  rarely  come  together  in 
Stratford-upon-Avon.  Art,  literature,  and  the  drama 
were  well  represented,  and  the  ceremonial  was  one  of 
international    interest.      The   fountain   forms   both    a 


The  StratJord-upon-Ai'on  Fountain.     213 

welcome  and  substantial  benefit  to  the  town,  and  a 
graceful  addition  to  its  many  points  of  natural  and 
historic  interest.  Stratford  accepted  the  bequest  with 
a  lieartiness  at  once  aoireeable  to  the  driver,  and  illus- 
trative  of  the  friendly  feeling  of  Warwickshire  for  the 
people  of  the  great  llepublic  of  the  West. 

"  Preparations  for  the  celebration  of  the  event  were 
made  on  Saturday.  The  scaffolding,  which  so  long 
impeded  a  full  view  of  the  fountain,  was  removed,  the 
final  touches  were  put  to  the  stonework  of  the  elegant 
erection,  and  a  tent  was  erected  in  which  the  ceremony 
was  to  take  place  in  the  event  of  the  weather  proving 
unpropitious.  Mr.  Irving,  -who  performed  the  inau- 
gural ceremony,  arrived  in  Stratford  the  previous  day, 
and  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Charles  E.  Flower  at  Avon- 
bank.  The  distinguished  actor  only  finished  his  Liver- 
pool engagement  on  Saturday  night,  this  being  the  last 
place  on  his  provincial  tour  before  his  departure  for 
America.  On  Sunday  morning  he  travelled  to  Ells- 
worth, via  Rugby,  a  special  train  on  the  East  and 
West  Junction  Railway  meeting  him  at  the  former 
place.  On  his  arrival  at  Stratford  he  received  a  very 
cordial  welcome.  A  large  number  of  people  had  as- 
sembled on  the  platform  and  outside  the  building,  and, 
as  soon  as  he  emerged  from  the  railway  carriage  and 
was  recognized,  a  very  vigorous  cheer  was  given.  He 
was  met  by  Mr.  Flower,  and  proceeded  at  once  to 
Avonbank. 

"  Monday  morning,  as  we  have  said,  opened  most 
auspiciously.  The  sun  soon  dispersed  the  early  mist, 
and  at  noon,  the  time  fixed  for  the  ceremony,  there 
was  almost  an  unclouded  sky,  and  in  the  splendid 
autumn  light  the  fountain  showed  itself  to  perfection. 
The  rich  light  gray  stone  seemed  to  reflect  the  sun's 
rays,  and  the  vane,  which  caps  the  edifice,  shone  with 


214     The  Straff ord-npon- Avon  Fountam. 

great  brilliancy.  The  fountain  was  complete,  with 
one  exception, — tiie  clock-ftices  were  there,  but  not  the 
hands.  Sir  Arthur  Hodgson  (the  Mayor),  in  accept- 
ing Mr.  Childs's  munificent  gift,  arranged  for  an  in- 
augural ceremonial  befitting  its  international  as  well 
as  its  practical  character.  Sir  Arthur  issued  invita- 
tions on  a  scale  of  imposing  hospitality,  and  the  Clop- 
ton  House  was  filled  with  a  number  of  distinguished 
guests.  Shortly  before  twelve  o'clock  a  procession  was 
arrancred  at  the  Town  Hall,  the  local  volunteers  with 
their  drum-and-fife  band  forming  the  lead,  and  followed 
by  the  Snitterfield  brass  band.  Then  came  the  Mayor, 
on  each  side  of  whom  AWilked  the  Lord  High  Steward 
(Earl  de  La  Warr)  and  his  Excellency  the  American 
Minister  (Mr.  Phelps).  Mr.  Henry  Irving,  accom- 
panied by  his  secretary,  Mr.  Bram  Stoker,  came  next, 
and  then  succeeded  the  Mayors  of  Leamington,  War- 
wick, Coventry,  and  Lichfield,  wearing  their  gold  chains 
of  ofi&ee.  The  members  of  the  corporation  and  their 
officers  brought  up  the  rear,  those  present  being  Alder- 
men Bird,  Cox,  Newton,  R.  Gibbs,  E.  Gibbs,  and  Col- 
bourne  ;  Councillors  Flower,  Cole,  Eaves,  Rogers, 
Birch,  C.  Green,  Hawkes,  L.  Greene,  Maries,  Kemp, 
and  Morris.  The  streets  during  the  moving  of  the 
procession  presented  a  very  animated  appearance,  there 
being  a  liberal  display  of  bunting  throughout  the  route. 
Arriving  at  the  site  of  the  Memorial,  they  found  as- 
sembled a  very  large  concourse  of  persons,  all  anxious 
to  witness  the  proceedings,  and  to  listen  to  the  elo- 
quence of  the  great  English  actor.  His  address  was 
delivered  in  the  silvery  tones  so  familiar  to  those  who 
have  seen  and  heard  Mr.  Irving  on  the  stage.  He  was 
studiously  brief,  but  what  a  large  amount  of  feeling 
and  meaning  his  few  words  contained  !  The  inaugural 
speech  over,  the  water  was  turned  on,  and  the  fountain 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     215 

was  dedicated  to  the  public  forever.  Cheers  followed 
the  announcement,  and  the  formal  ceremony  soon  came 
to  an  end.  Everything  had  been  happily  done,  and 
the  fraternal  relations  of  the  tvro  great  nations  vrhich 
regard  the  works  of  Shakespeare  as  a  common  heritage 
were  thus  increasingly  cemented.  There  were  mutual 
congratulations  :  common  praise  of  Mr.  Childs's  mag- 
nificent gift,  of  the  architect's  skill  and  taste,  of  the 
builder's  sound  workmanship.  The  whole  proceedings 
were  happily  conceived  and  successfully  carried  out. 

"  The  speeches  at  the  fountain  and  at  the  luncheon 
which  followed  are  fully  recorded  below. 

"  The  Mayor  announced  that  he  had  received  letters 
explaining  inability  to  attend  from  the  High  Sheriff, 
the  Lord  Lieutenant,  Lord  and  Lady  Hertford,  his 
Excellency  the  American  Minister  at  Paris,  the  Secre- 
tary of  Legation  of  the  United  States,  Sir  StaflTord 
Northcote,  the  Dean  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  and 
Mr.  Halliwell-Phillipps.  His  Worship  afterwards  read 
the  following  letters  from  Mr.  James  Russell  Lowell 
and  Mr.  J.  G.  Whittier : 

LETTER    OF    JAMES    RUSSELL    LOWELL. 

" '  Dear  Sir  Arthur  Hodgson, — I  should  more 
deeply  regret  my  inability  to  be  present  at  the  interest- 
ing ceremonial  of  the  17th  were  it  not  that  my  country- 
men will  be  more  fitly  and  adequately  represented  there 
by  our  accomplished  Minister,  Mr.  Phelps. 

"  '  The  occasion  is  certainly  most  interesting.  The 
monument  which  you  accept  to-day  in  behalf  of  your 
townsmen  commemorates  at  once  the  most  marvellous 
of  Englishmen  and  the  Jubilee  Year  of  the  august 
lady  whose  name  is  honored  wherever  the  language 
is  spoken  of  wliich  he  was  the  greatest  master.     No 


216     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

symbol  could  more  aptly  serve  this  double  purpose 
thcan  a  fountain  ;  for  surely  no  poet  ever  "  poured  forth 
so  broad  a  river  of  speech"  as  he, — whether  he  was  the 
author  of  the  Novum  Oi'<!;anum  also  or  not, — nor  could 
the  purity  of  her  character  and  example  be  better 
typified  than  by  the  current  that  shall  flow  forever 
from  the  sources  opened  here  to-day. 

"'It  was  Washington  Irving  who  first  embodied  in 
his  delightful  Enojlish  the  emotion  which  Stratford- 
upon-Avon  awakens  in  the  heart  of  the  pilgrim,  and 
especially  of  the  American  pilgrim,  who  visits  it.  I 
am  glad  to  think  that  this  Memorial  should  be  the  gift 
of  an  American,  and  thus  serve  to  recall  the  kindred 
blood  of  two  great  nations,  joint  heirs  of  the  same 
noble  language  and  of  the  genius  that  has  given  it  a 
cosmopolitan  significance.  I  am  glad  of  it  because  it 
is  one  of  the  multiplying  signs  that  these  two  nations 
are  beginning  to  think  more  and  more  of  the  things  in 
which  they  sympathize,  less  and  less  of  those  in  which 
they  differ. 

"'A  common  language  is  not,  indeed,  the  surest 
bond  of  amity,  for  this  enables  each  country  to  under- 
stand whatever  unpleasant  thing  the  other  may  chance 
to  say  about  it.  As  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that 
an  honest  friendship  between  England  and  America  is 
a  most  desirable  thing,  I  trust  that  we  shall  on  both 
sides  think  it  equally  desirable,  in  our  intercourse  one 
with  another,  to  make  our  mother-tongue  search  her 
cofi'ers  round  for  the  polished  rather  than  the  sharp- 
cornered  epithets  she  has  stored  there.  Let  us  by  all 
means  speak  the  truth  to  each  other,  for  there  is  no 
one  else  who  can  speak  it  to  either  of  us  with  such  a 
fraternal  instinct  for  the  weak  point  of  the  other  5  but 
let  us  do  it  in  such  wise  as  to  show  that  it  is  the  truth 
we  love,  and  not  the  discomfort  we  can  inflict  by  means 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     217 

of  it.  Let  us  say  agreeable  things  to  each  other  and 
of  each  other  Avhenever  Ave  conscientiously  can.  My 
friend,  Mr.  Childs,  has  said  one  of  these  agreeable 
things  in  a  very  solid  and  durable  way.  A  common 
literature  and  a  common  respect  for  certain  qualities 
of  character  and  ways  of  thinking  supply  a  neutral 
ground  where  we  may  meet  in  the  assurance  that  we 
shall  find  something  amiable  in  each  other,  and  from 
being  less  than  kind  become  more  than  kin. 

"  '  In  old  maps  the  line  which  outlined  the  British 
Possessions  in  America  included  the  greater  part  of 
what  is  now  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  The 
possessions  of  the  American  in  England  are  laid  down 
on  no  map,  yet  he  holds  them  of  memory  and  imagina- 
tion by  a  title  such  as  no  conquest  ever  established  and 
no  revolution  can  ever  overthrow.  The  dust  that  is 
sacred  to  you  is  sacred  to  him.  The  annals  which 
Shakespeare  makes  walk  before  us  in  flesh  and  blood 
are  his  no  less  than  yours.  These  are  the  ties  which 
we  recognize,  and  are  glad  to  recognize,  on  occasions 
like  this.  They  will  be  yearly  drawn  closer  as  Science 
goes  on  with  her  work  of  abolishing  Time  and  Space, 
and  thus  renders  more  easy  that  "  peaceful  commerce 
'twixt  dividable  shores"  which  is  so  potent  to  clear 
away  whatever  is  exclusive  in  nationality  or  savors  of 
barbarism  in  patriotism. 

"  'I  remain,  dear  Mr.  Mayor,  faithfully  yours, 

"  '  J.  K.  Lowell.' 

LETTER    FROM    JOHN    GREENLEAF    WHITTIER. 

'"Oak  Knoll,  Daxveus,  Mass.,  6th  Mo.  30th,  1887. 
"'Mr.G.W.  Childs: 

"  '  Dear  Friend, — I  have  just  read  of  thy  noble  and 
appropriate  gift  to  the  birthplace  of  Shakespeare.     It 
K  19 


218     The  Sir atjord-upon- Avon  Fountain. 

was  a  hnppy  thought  to  connect  it  with  the  Queen's 
Jubilee.  It  will  make  for  peace  between  the  two  great 
kindred  nations,  and  will  go  far  to  atone  for  the  foolish 
abuse  of  England  by  too  many  of  our  party  orators 
and  papers.  As  an  American,  and  proud  of  the  name, 
I  thank  thee  for  expressing  in  this  munificent  way  the 
true  feeling  of  our  people. 

"  '  I  am  very  truly,  thy  friend, 

"'John  G.  Wuittier.' 

the  address  of  mayor  hodgson. 

"  The  letters  having  been  read,  the  Mayor  said 
he  must  say  a  few  words  about  the  origin  of  the 
fountain.  It  came  about  in  this  way.  It  had  been 
first  suggested  to  Mr.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  by  an 
eminent  English  divine  and  scholar  (the  late  Dean 
Stanley),  that  it  would  be  a  good  and  graceful  thing 
for  an  American  to  leave  his  mark  in  the  historic 
borough  wherein  Shakespeare  was  born,  and  lived,  and 
died,  and  was  buried.  After  the  death  of  the  Dean 
nothing  more  was  said  of  the  project  until  Mr.  Childs's 
friend.  Dr.  Macaulay,  wrote  to  him  expressing  the 
same  idea  which  had  been  four  years  before  presented 
to  the  giver  of  the  Herbert  and  Cowper  AVindow  to 
Westminster  Abbey  ;  but  Dr.  Macaulay  urged  that  the 
best  gift  would  be  a  drinking-fountain,  of  which  Strat- 
fordians  stood  very  much  in  want.  All  of  Mr.  Childs's 
several  letters  respecting  the  fountain,  extending  over 
twelve  months,  evinced  a  spirit  of  affection  for  dear 
old  England,  and  a  feeling  of  deep  regard  for  our 
most  gracious  Queen.  Therefore  we  chose  the  Jubilee 
Year  for  the  presentation.  In  all  this  Mr.  Childs  has 
proved  that  blood  is  stronger  than  water.  Yes,  in  this 
case  blood  is  stronger  than  water.     Mr.  Childs  had 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     219 

imbued  his  feelings,  English  and  American, — mixed 
them  up  together,  as  it  were.  Then,  of  course,  ar- 
rangements had  to  be  made.  He  did  not  hesitate  to 
say  that,  if  it  had  not  been  for  Di-.  ]Macaulay,  and 
the  valuable  assistance  he  gave,  they  could  not  have 
proved  the  fountain,  as  he  believed  they  intended  to 
do  that  day,  a  success.  Dr.  Macaulay  helped  them 
heartily,  and  he  felt  deeply  grateful  for  his  valuable 
assistance.  Then  came  the  question,  who  should  in- 
augurate the  stately  Memorial;  and  Dr.  Macaulay  and 
himself  both  agreed  that  they  could  not  choose  a  better 
man  than  their  celebrated  Encrlish  tragedian,  Mr. 
Henry  Irving.  They  were  not  at  all  sure  of  securing 
the  valuable  presence  of  his  Excellency,  Mr.  Phelps, 
the  American  Minister  in  this  country,  and  thought  it 
better  to  be  sure  of  their  ground.  However,  he  was 
there,  and  Mr.  Irving,  and,  on  behalf  of  the  borough 
of  Stratford-upon-Avon  and  the  corporation,  of  v.'hich 
he  had  the  honor  to  be  Mayor,  he  returned  to  them 
their  most  grateful  thanks  for  havincr  come  amon<:'  them 
on  that  auspicious  occasion.  He  knew  very  well  that 
Mr.  Phelps  had  travelled  night  and  day  from  the  north 
of  Scotland  to  be  present,  not  only  to  lend  his  counte- 
nance to  the  gathering,  but  to  endorse  the  munificent 
act  of  his  noble  countryman.  It  was,  again,  a  great 
satisfaction  to  the  people  of  Stratford  to  be  able  to 
secure  the  services  of  the  great  tragedian,  who,  they 
were  glad  to  know,  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  Shake- 
speare's Birthplace.  They  thanked  iMr.  Irving  for 
coming  among  them,  and  he  would  conclude  his  re- 
marks by  asking  Mr.  Irving  to  dedicate  the  noble 
fountain  to  the  borough  of  Stratford-upon-Avon  for- 
ever. 

"Mr.  Irving,  on  stepping  forward,  was  received  with 
great  cheering.     He  said  he  had  been  requested  to  read 


220     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

a  poem  which  had  been  dedicated  to  the  fountain  at 
Stratford-upon-Avon, — a  poem  written  by  a  man  who 
was  loved  wherever  the  English  language  was  spoken." 

Mr.  Irving  then  read  the  following  poem 
by  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  : 

Welcome,  thrice  Avelcome,  is  thy  silvery  gleam, 

Thou  long-imprisoned  stream  ! 
Welcome  the  tinkle  of  thy  crystal  beads 
As  plashing  raindrops  to  the  flowery  meads, 
As  summer's  breath  to  Avon's  whispering  reeds! 
From  rock-walled  channels,  drowned  in  rayless  night, 

Leap  forth  to  life  and  light ; 
Wake  from  the  darkness  of  thv  troulded  dream, 
And  greet  with  answering  smile  the  morning's  beam! 

No  purer  lymph  the  white-limbed  Naiad  knows 

Than  from  thy  chalice  flows  ; 
Not  the  bright  spring  of  Afric's  sunny  shores, 
Starry  with  spangles  washed  from  golden  ores, 
Nor  glassy  stream  Blandusia's  fountain  pours, 
Nor  wave  translucent  where  Sabrina  fair 

Braids  her  loose-flowing  hair, 
Nor  the  swift  current,  stainless  as  it  rose 
Where  chill  Arveiron  steals  from  Alpine  snows. 

Here  shall  the  traveller  stay  his  weary  feet 

To  seek  thy  calm  retreat ; 
Here  at  high  noon  the  brown-armed  reaper  rest; 
Here,  when  the  shadows,  lengthening  from  the  west, 
Call  the  mute  song-bird  to  his  leafy  nest, 
Matron  and  maid  shall  chat  the  cares  away 

That  brooded  o'er  the  day, 
While  flocking  round  them  troops  of  children  meet, 
And  all  the  arches  ring  with  laughter  sweet. 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     221 

Here  shall  the  steed,  his  patient  life  who  spends 

In  toil  that  never  ends, 
Hot  from  his  thirsty  tramp  o'er  hill  and  plain, 
Plunge  his  red  nostrils,  while  the  torturing  rein 
Drops  in  loose  loops  beside  his  floating  mane ; 
Nor  the  poor  brute  that  shares  his  master's  lot 

Find  his  small  needs  forgot, — ■ 
Truest  of  humble,  long-enduring  friends, 
Whose  presence  cheers,  wdiose  guardian  care  defends  1 

Here  lark  and  thrush  and  nightingale  shall  sip. 

And  skimming  swallows  dip. 
And  strange  shy  wanderers  fold  their  lustrous  plumes 
Fragrant  from  bowers  that  lent  their  sweet  perfumes 
"Where  Pgestum's  rose  or  Persia's  lilac  blooms  ; 
Here  from  his  cloud  the  eagle  stoop  to  drink 

At  the  full  basin's  brink, 
And  whet  his  beak  against  its  rounded  lip, 
Ilis  glossy  feathers  glistening  as  they  drip. 

Here  shall  the  dreaming  poet  linger  long, 

Far  from  his  listening  throng, — 
Nor  lute  nor  Ivre  iiis  trembling  hand  shall  bring  ; 
Here  no  frail  Muse  shall  imp  her  crippled  wing. 
No  faltering  minstrel  strain  his  throat  to  sing  I 
These  hallowed  echoes  who  shall  dare  to  claim 

AVhose  tuneless  voice  would  shame, 
AVhose  jangling  chords  with  jarring  notes  would  wrong 
The  nymphs  that  heard  the  Swan  of  Avon's  song? 

"What  visions  greet  the  pilgrim's  raptured  eyes  I 

"What  ghosts  made  real  rise  ! 
The  dead  return, — they  breathe, — they  live  again. 
Joined  by  the  host  of  Fancy's  airy  train. 
Fresh   from   the  springs  of  Shakespeare's  quickening 
brain  1 

19* 


222     The  Straffonl-uj)on-Avon  Fountain, 

The  stream  that  slakes  the  soul's  diviner  thirst 

Here  found  the  sunbeams  first; 
Rich  Avith  his  fame,  not  less  shall  memory  prize 
The  gracious  gift  that  humbler  wants  supplies. 

O'er  the  wide  waters  reached  the  hand  that  g.ave 

To  all  this  bounteous  wave, 
With  health  and  strength  and  joyous  beauty  fraught  j 
Blest  be  the  generous  pledge  of  friendship,  brought 
From  the  far  home  of  brothers'  love,  unboughtl 
Long  may  fair  Avon's  fountain  flow,  enrolled 

With  storied  shrines  of  old, — 
Castalia's  spring,  Egeria's  dewy  cave, 
And  Iloreb's  rock  the  God  of  Israel  clave  1 

Land  of  our  Fathers,  ocean  makes  us  two. 

But  heart  to  heart  is  true  1 
Proud  is  your  towering  daughter  in  the  West, 
Yet  in  her  burning  life-blood  reign  confessed 
Her  mother  s  pulses  beating  in  her  breast. 
This  holy  fount,  whose  rills  from  heaven  descend, 

Its  gracious  drops  shall  lend 
Both  foreheads  bathed  in  that  baptismal  dew, 
And  love  make  one  the  old  home  and  the  new  1 

MR.    IRVING'S   address. 

"Mr.  Irving  then  spoke  as  follows:  'The  occa- 
sion which  has  drawn  us  here  to-day  has  an  excep- 
tional interest  and  a  special  significance.  We  have 
met  to  celebrate  a  tribute  which  has  been  paid  to 
the  memory  of  Shakespeare  by  an  American  citizen, 
and  which  is  associated  with  the  Jubilee  Year  of  our 
Queen.  The  donor  of  this  beautiful  monument  I  am 
happy  to  claim  as  a  personal  friend.     Mr.  George  W. 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     223 

Childs  is  not  only  an  admirable  specimen  of  tlie  public 
spirit  and  enterprising  energy  of  Philadelphia,  but  he 
is  also  a  man  who  has  endeared  himself  to  a  very  wide 
circle  by  many  generous  deeds.     I  do  not  wonder  at 
his  munificence,  fur  to  men   like  him  it  is  a  second 
nature  ;  but  I  rejoice  in  the  happy  inspiration  which 
prompted  a  gift  that  so  worthily  represents  the  common 
homage  of  two  great  peoples  to  the  most  famous  man  of 
their  common  race.    We  are  honored  to-day  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  distinguished  American,  the  political  represen- 
tative of  his  country  in  England.     But  it  would  do  far 
less  than  justice  to  Mr.  Phelps  to  affirm  that  he  is  with 
us  in  any  formal  and  diplomatic  sense.     On  this  spot, 
of  all  others,  Americans  cease  to  be  aliens,  for  here 
they  claim  our  kinship  with  the  great  master  of  Eng- 
lish speech.     It  is  not  for  me  to  say  in  Mr.  Phelps's 
presence  how  responsive  American  life  and  literature 
are  to  the  influence  which  has  done  more  than  the  work 
of  any  other  man  to  mould  the  thought  and  character 
of  generations.     The  simplest  records  of  Stratford  show 
that  this  is  the  Mecca  of  American  pilgrims,  and  that 
the  place  which  gave  birth  to  Shakespeare  is  regarded 
as  the  fountain  of  the  mightiest  and  most  enduring 
inspiration  of  our  mother-tongue.     It  is  not  difficult 
to  believe  that  among  the  strangers  who  write  those 
imposing  letters  U.S.A.  in  the  visitors'  book  in  the  his- 
toric house  hard  by  there  are  some  whose  colloquial 
speech  still  preserves  many  phrases  Avhich  have  come 
down  from  Shakespeare's  time.     Some  idioms,  which 
are  supposed    to  be  of   American  invention,   can  be 
traced  back  to  Shakespeare.     And  we  can  imagine  that 
in  the  audience  at  the  old  Globe  Theatre  there  were 
ignorant  and  unlettered  men  who  treasured  up  some- 
thing of  Shakespeare's  imagery  and  vivid  portraiture, 
and  carried  with  them  across  the  ocean  thoughts  and 


224     TJie  Straff ord-ujwn- Avon  Fountain. 

words,  "solemn  vision  and  l^riglit  silver  dream," 
which  helped  to  nurture  their  transplanted  stock. 
For  it  is  above  all  things  as  the  poet  of  the  peoj)le 
that  Shakespeare  is  supreme.  lie  wrote  in  days  when 
literature  made  no  appeal  to  the  multitude.  Books 
were  for  a  limited  class,  but  tlie  theatre  was  open  to 
all.  How  many  Englishmen,  to  whom  reading  was  a 
labor  or  an  impossibility,  must  have  drawn  from  the 
stage  which  Shakespeare  had  enriched  some  of  the 
most  priceless  je\vels  of  the  human  mind!  One  of 
the  inscriptions  on  this  fountain  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
expressive  tribute  to  Shakespeare  which  the  people's 
heart  can  pay:  "Ten  thousand  honors  and  blessings 
on  the  bard  who  has  gilded  the  dull  realities  of  life 
with  innocent  illusions."  Those  simple  words  speak 
a  gratitude  fiir  more  eloquent  and  enduring  than  whole 
volumes  of  criticism.  It  is  not  only  because  Shake- 
speare is  the  delight  of  scholars,  or  because  he  has 
infinite  charms  for  the  refined,  that  he  wields  the  un- 
broken staff  of  Prospero  over  the  imagination  of  man- 
kind. It  is  because  his  spell  is  woven  from  the  truth 
and  simplicity  of  Nature  herself.  There  lies  the  heart 
of  the  mystery.  Without  an  effort  the  simplest  mind 
passes  into  the  realms  of  Shakespeare's  fancy.  Learned 
and  simple,  gentle  and  humble,  all  may  drink  from  the 
inexhaustible  wisdom  of  this  supreme  sage.  And  so 
it  seems  to  me  that  no  happier  emblem  of  Shakespeare's 
genius  in  his  native  place  could  have  been  chosen  than 
this  Memorial  Fountain.  I  suppose  we  shall  never 
be  content  with  what  little  we  know  of  Shakespeare's 
personal  history.  Yet  we  can  see  him  in  his  home-life 
here,  the  man  of  genial  manners  and  persuasive  speech, 
unassuming  and  serene,  and  perhaps  unconscious  that 
he  had  created  in  the  world  of  letters  as  great  a  marvel 
as  his  contemporary  Galileo's  discovery  in  the  world 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     225 

of  science.  And  we  may  conjure  other  fancies.  We 
can  picture  Shakespeare  returning  from  his  bourne  to 
find  upon  the  throne  a  queen  who  rules  with  gentler 
sway  than  the  great  sovereign  that  he  knew  ;  and  yet 
whose  reign  has  glories  more  beneficent  than  those  of 
Elizabeth?  We  can  try  to  imogine  his  emotion  wlien 
he  finds  "  this  dear  England"  he  loved  so  well  ex- 
panded beyond  the  seas  ;  and  we  can  at  least  be  happy 
in  the  thought  that  when  he  had  mastered  the  lessons 
of  the  conflict  which  divided  us  from  our  kinsmen  in 
America,  he  would  be  proud  to  see  in  Stratford  the  gift 
of  a  distinguished  American  citizen, — this  memorial 
of   our    reunion    under   the    shadow    of   his    undying 


name.' 


REMARKS    OF    SIR    PHILIP    CUXLIFFE    OWEN. 

"  In  response  to  a  call  from  the  Mayor,  Sir  Philip 
Cunliffe  Owen,  who  was  originally  associated  with  the 
British  Commission  of  the  Centennial  Exhibition  of 
1876,  in  Philadelphia,  said  that,  as  an  old  personal 
friend  of  Mr.  Childs,  he  was  gratified  at  being  per- 
mitted to  say  a  few  words  on  that  interesting  occasion, 
and  to  express  the  gratitude  of  a  large  number  of 
English  people  who  had  received  Mr.  Childs's  hospi- 
tality. That  hospitality  was  well  known  in  that  '  City 
of  Brotherly  Love,' — Philadelphia, — and  Mr.  Childs 
was  beloved  both  over  there  and  in  this  country.  He 
was  very  much  pleased  indeed  that  he  should  have 
been  allowed,  in  the  name  of  those  who  loved  Mr. 
Childs, — as  all  who  had  met  him  in  America  did, — to 
join  with  the  orator  who  had  just  charmed  them  by 
his  eloquence  in  expressing  their  gratitude  for  that 
noble  gift. 

"The  water  was  then  turned  on,  and,  filling  a  cup, 
Mr.  Irving  drank  '  To  the  Immortal  Memory  of  Shake- 
V 


226     The  Stvatford-^ipon- Avon  Fountain. 

speare,'  while  the  Mayor  announced  to  the  company 
that  the  water  had  been  pronounced  by  authority  to  be 
clear,  palatable,  and  good.  The  band  in  the  mean  time 
played  tiie  National  Anthem  and  'Hail,  Columbia,' 
while  hearty  cheers  were  afterwards  given  for  the 
Queen,  for  the  President  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
American  Minister  (Mr.  Phelps),  for  Mr.  Childs,  the 
munificent  donor  of  the  fountain,  for  the  Mayor  and 
Lady  Hodgson,  and  for  Mr.  Irving.  This  part  of  the 
proceedings  then  terminated." 

THE   MAYOR'S   BANQUET. 

At  one  o'clock  the  Mayor  entertained  a 
large  and  distinguished  company  at  lunch- 
eon, in  the  upper  room  of  the  Town  Hall, 
concernino;  which  the  Herald  continues: 


U  T 


The  Mayor,  in  giving  the  toast  of  '  The  Queen,' 
said  it  was  one  which,  in  this  ancient,  loyal,  and  his- 
toric borough,  was  always  well  received.  This  year 
Stratford  had  done  its  best  to  honor  the  Jubilee.  By 
a  happy  coincidence,  the  foundation-stone  of  the  hand- 
some fountain  they  had  inaugurated  that  morning  was 
laid  on  Jubilee  Day  by  the  Mayoress.  They  all  felt 
that  the  Queen  sat  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  her  sub- 
jects. He  thought  they  might  truly  say  that  she  was 
the  most  constitutional  sovereii^n  who  had  ever  reisrned 
over  them.  Throuirhout  her  lono;  and  glorious  reiirn 
we  had  had  a  government  of  the  people  by  the  people 
for  the  people.  Of  Victoria  it  might  be  said,  as  by 
Cranmer  (in  'Henry  VIII.')  of  another  Queen,  'She 
shall  be  to  the  happiness  of  England  an  aged  princess. 
Many  days  shall  see  her,  yet  not  a  day  without  a  deed 
to  crown  it.' 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     227 

"  The  toast  was  received  with  hearty  cheers,  after 
which  the  Mayor  proposed,  '  The  Prince  and  Princess 
of  Wales  and  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family,'  which  met 
with  an  equally  cordial  reception. 

REMARKS    OF    EARL    DE    LA    WARR. 

"Earl  de  La  ^V'arr  said  he  had  great  pleasure  in 
proposing  the  next  toast,  '  The  President  of  the  United 
States.'  They  had  that  day  witnessed  a  ceremony 
which  had  excited  the  liveliest  interest  of  all  who  had 
the  pleasure  of  being  present.  The  function  at  which 
they  had  assisted  that  morning  was  more  than  a  mere 
ceremony  :  it  was  an  indication  of  the  sympathy  exist- 
ing between  England  and  America.  He  thought  he 
was  speaking  the  sentiments  of  the  nation  as  well  as 
of  the  borough  when  he  said  that  they  viewed  that 
auspicious  occasion,  not  only  as  a  proof  of  the  great 
interest  which  was  felt  in  America  in  the  memory  of 
the  immortal  poet,  but  also  as  drawing  more  closely 
the  bonds  of  unity  and  friendly  feeling  between  the 
United  States  and  this  country. 

"  The  toast  was  very  cordially  received. 

ADDRESS    OF    MR.    PHELPS,   THE    AMERICAN    MINISTER. 

"  Ilis  Excellency  the  American  Minister,  Mr.  Phelps, 
who  experienced  a  hearty  greeting,  said,  in  response, — 

"  *  It  is  certainly  a  very  grateful  duty  to  respond  to 
a  sentiment  honored  by  Ainericans  everywhere  and 
under  all  circumstances,  which  has  been  proposed  in 
such  felicitous  terms  by  Lord  de  La  Warr,  and  received 
so  cordially  by  you  all.  And  for  the  kind  allusions  to 
myself  which  I  have  heard  to-day  and  for  your  more 
than  kind  reception,  I  can  only  offer  you  my  thanks 
and  my  wish  that  they  were  better  deserved.  The 
manner  in  wiiich   the  name  of  the  President  of  the 


228     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

United  States  is  always  received  when  it  is  brou.2;hfc 
forward  in  an  English  company,  and  the  kindness 
which  everywhere  is  made  to  surround  tlie  path  of  his 
representative  in  this  country,  are  exceedingly  gratify- 
ing, because  they  are  the  expression,  and  the  more 
significant  because  they  are  often  the  spontaneous  ex- 
pression, of  the  cordial,  friendly  feeling  which  animates 
the  heart  of  the  people  of  this  country  towards  their 
kinsmen  across  that  sea  which  used  to  divide  but  which 
now  unites  them.  The  relations  between  these  two 
countries  are  not  the  property  of  themselves  alone ; 
they  are  the  property  of  the  civilized  world.  It  would 
be  a  calamity  too  great  to  be  anticipated,  and  which  I 
trust  may  never  be  realized,  to  all  the  civilized  world 
if  these  relations  were  to  be  severed.  But  it  is  to  be 
borne  in  mind  that  they  depend  far  less  upon  govern- 
ments and  public  men  than  upon  the  spirit  w^hich 
animates  the  people  on  either  side.  Mr.  Irving  happily 
remarked  this  morning  that  I  was  not  here  in  a  diplo- 
matic capacity.  Diplomacy,  that  black  art  as  it  used 
to  be  known  in  the  w^orld,  and  I  hope  has  ceased  to  be 
known,  has  very  little  place  among  the  straightforward 
Saxon  race.  It  cannot  be  too  strongly  borne  in  mind, 
I  think,  that  it  is  on  the  cultivation  of  a  friendly  spirit 
on  both  sides  that  our  cordial  relations  depend.  So 
far  as  I  have  observed,  people  do  not  quarrel  unless 
they  desire  it.  When  they  are  hostile,  provocation  is 
not  far  to  seek  •,  when  they  are  friendly,  there  are  very 
few  provocations  that  will  not  somehow  be  patched  up 
and  adjusted.  It  is  in  the  intercourse  so  admirably 
depicted  in  the  letter  of  my  predecessor,  Mr.  Lowell, 
by  which  the  people  of  the  two  countries  come  to  know 
each  other  and  understand  and  appreciate  each  other, 
to  partake  of  each  other's  hospitality,  to  enjoy  with 
each  other  the  amenities  of  social,  personal,  individual 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain,     229 

life,  that  the  spirit  arises  that  will  always  make  these 
people  friends.     And  it  may  he  usefully  rememhered 
by  those  philanthropists  and  humanitarians  who  are 
anxious  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  world,  that  it  is 
much  better  maintained  by  justice  and  kindness  in  the 
treatment  of  each  other  internationally  than  it  is  by 
obtaining  paper  promises  that  injustice  and  unkindness 
shall  not  be  resented.     Such  promises  are  either  worth- 
less or  needless.     They  are  needless  Avhile  nations  are 
friendly ;  they  are  worthless  while  nations  are  hostile. 
It  is  one  of  the  amenities  to  which  I  have  alluded  that 
brings  us  together  here  to-day.     I  must  say  a  word, 
before  I  sit  down,  about  the  gift  of  my  warm-hearted 
and  distinguished  countryman  which  has  been  inaugu- 
rated this  morning.     I  should  rather  mar  what  you 
have  already  heard  if  I  were  to  attempt  to  add  much 
to  what  has  been  said,  and  so  well  said,  by  the  Mayor, 
Mr.  Irving,  and  Mr.  Lowell.     It  seems  to  me  that  in 
every  possible   way    all   the   proprieties   and   all   the 
unities  have   attended  it.     It  seems  to  be  a  graceful 
offering,  modest,  unobtrusive,  unheralded,  accepted  in 
the  spirit  in  which   it  is  given.     I  wish   Mr.  Childs 
might   have   been   present   here   to-day.     I    wish   he 
might  have  observed  for  himself  the  spirit  in  which 
his  gift  was  received.     It  is  appropriately  erected  on 
the  place  where  the  memory  of  Shakespeare  has  extin- 
guished all  other  memories,  a  place  to  which  Ameri- 
cans, by  the  pilgrimage  of  successive  generations,  have 
established  a  title  as  tenants  in  common  with  Eng;- 
lishmen  by  right  of  possession, — one  of  those  posses- 
sions described  by  Mr.  Lowell,  not  laid  down  on  the 
map,  but  of  which  the  title  is  just  as  strong  as  if  it 
were    marked   by   geographical    boundaries.     I    have 
sometimes  thought  that  there  is  no  bond  of  union  be- 
tween Americans  and   Englishmen    that   is   stronijrer 

20 


230     The  Straff onl-uj^on- Avon  Fountain. 

tlmn  that  of  a  common  literature :  I  mean  the  litera- 
ture that  pervades  and  influences  the  general  intelli- 
gence of  the  country  5  the  literature  that  was  so  ably 
protrayed  by  Mr.  Irving  this  morning  in  his  observa- 
tions on  the  character  of  Shakespeare's  writings;  a 
literature  which  is  not  the  property  of  a  class,  but  for 
all  mankind  and  for  all  time;  and,  therefore,  this 
birthplace  of  Shakespeare,  where  almost  all  the  me- 
morials which  remain  to  him  are  gradually  being 
gathered  together,  here,  if  anywhere  in  England,  is 
the  appropriate  place  for  a  permanent  gift  from  an 
American.  It  is  appropriate  also  in  the  time  of  offer- 
ing,— the  Jubilee  Year  of  your  sovereign,  the  Jubilee 
of  which  I  was  a  most  interested  spectator  in  all  its 
progress  from  beginning  to  end.  And  the  impression 
which  it  made  upon  me  was  that  its  success  and  its 
distinction  did  not  arise  from  its  pageantry  or  its  core- 
monies  or  the  distinguished  concourse  which  attended 
it  from  afar.  It  has  been  in  the  manifestation  of  that 
deep  and  universal  loyalty  of  this  people  towards  their 
Queen  and  their  government.  That,  as  it  appears  to 
me,  is  the  lesson,  the  significance,  the  glory,  and  the 
success  of  the  Jubilee.  The  loyalty  of  Americans  is 
to  their  own  government;  they  appreciate  the  loyalty 
of  your  people  to  yours,  and  they  understand  and  feel, 
I  am  sure,  through  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of 
that  country,  what  was  so  well  expressed  by  the  Mayor, 
when  he  said  that  the  throne  of  the  Queen  is  in  the 
hearts  of  her  people.  And,  therefore,  a  gift  which, 
though  it  comes  from  one  citizen  only  in  America, 
will  be  applauded  by  thousands,  and  to  which  thou- 
sands would  have  gladly  contributed  if  it  had  been 
requisite,  may  well  come  in  the  year  when  you  are 
celebrating  an  event  so  rare  in  the  history  of  nations. 
The  gift,  too,  in  its  inauguration  has  been  fortunate  in 


The  Straiford-npon-Avon  Fountain.     231 

the  ceremonies  that  attended  it.  It  is  fortunate  that  it 
should  have  been  inaugurated  in  an  address  so  fittincr 
and  so  elegant  by  a  gentleman  who  interprets  Sliake- 
speare  to  both  the  nations  in  whom  we  claim  a  share 
and  always  shall,  whom  we  always  welcome  heartily, 
and  always  unwillingly  let  go.  I  cannot  wish  him  a 
speedy  return,  in  justice  to  my  countrymen,  in  the 
voyage  he  is  about  to  undertake.  I  hope  he  may  have 
a  safe  and  happy  one.  I  hope  that,  when  the  curtain 
falls  in  America  upon  some  representation  of  the  great 
master  which  has  entranced  a  theatre  crowded  with  the 
best  intelligence  of  my  countrymen,  and  when  the  call 
not  unfamiliar  to  his  ear  compels  him  to  say  something 
for  himself,  he  will  tell  them  what  he  has  seen  and 
li.eard  to-day.  He  may  be  too  modest  to  tell  them  how 
much  he  has  contributed  to  it ;  but  I  hope  he  will  tell 
them  something  of  the  manner  and  the  spirit  in  which 
the  gift  to  his  country  was  received,  and  I  am  sure  it 
will  not  make  his  welcome  the  less  cordial.  Long  may 
this  fountain  stand,  sir,  and  flow,  an  emblem,  a  monu- 
ment, a  landmark — not  the  only  one  by  many,  I  hope 
— of  the  permanent,  intimate,  cordial  friendship  of  my 
countrymen  and  yours  !  May  many  generations  of 
Englishmen  and  Americans  drink  together  of  its 
waters  !  May  many  a  school-boy,  creeping  unwillingly 
to  school,  or  rushing  joyously  away  from  it,  when  lie 
pauses  to  slake  his  thirst  at  its  current,  take  in  with 
the  water  a  kindly  thought  of  his  kinsmen  beyond  the 
sea, — kinsmen  who  have  so  much  in  common,  whose 
history,  whose  religion,  whose  literature,  whose  lan- 
guage are  all  in  common,  and  who  are  to  share  in 
common  hereafter,  beyond  all  and  above  all,  in  that 
limitless  American  future  which  opens  its  magnificent 
doors  free  and  wide  to  you  and  your  children  as  well 
as  to  ours !' 


232     The  Straff ord-upon- Avon  Fountain. 

THE    queen's    telegram. 

"At  the  conclusion  of  the  address  of  the  American 
Minister,  which  was  received  with  the  most  enthusi- 
astic manifestation  of  good-will,  the  Mayor  announced, 
amid  great  cheering,  that  he  had  just  received  a  tele- 
gram from  her  Majesty.     It  was  as  follows : 

"  '  The  Queen  is  much  gratified  by  the  kind  and  loyal 
expressions  contained  in  your  telegram,  and  is  pleased 
to  hear  of  the  handsome  gift  from  Mr.  Childs  to  Strat- 
ford-upon-Avon. 

"  '  (Signed)        Henry  Ponsonby.' 

"  It  may  be  stated  that  a  few  minutes  earlier  the 
Mayor  had  wired, — 

"  '  To  Sir  Henry  Ponsonby,  Balmoral  Castle. 

"'The  toast  of  her  Majesty's  health  most  enthusi- 
astically received  on  the  occasion  of  the  inauguration 
of  the  drinking  fountain  by  Mr.  Childs,  a  distinguished 
citizen  of  Philadelphia. 

"  '  (Signed)  Arthur  Hodgson, 

"  '  Mayor  of  Stratford.'' 

remarks    of    MR.    WALTER,   OF    THE    LONDON    "  TIMES." 

"  Mr.  Walter,  the  proprietor  of  the  London  Times, 
proposed  the  next  toast,  which  he  said  might  truly  be 
described  as  the  toast  of  the  dav,  the  health  of  the 
honored  donor  of  the  gift  which  they  had  assembled  to 
inaugurate.  He  had  no  claim  whatever  to  be  selected 
for  so  high  an  honor  as  that  of  proposing  Mr.  Childs's 
health,  except  from  the  circumstance  that  he  had  had 
the  privilege  of  being  intimately  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Childs  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  that  he  and  his 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     233 

family  had,  when  visiting  the  United  States,  received 
unbounded  proofs  of  his  hospitality  and  affectionate 
feeling  towards  them,  which  had  always  made  him 
(Mr.  Walter)  feel  when  within  the  States  as  a  free  cit- 
izen of  that  community.  Only  those  who  had  had  the 
good  fortune  to  know  America  intimately  could  form 
any  adequate  idea  of  the  feelings  of  veneration  and 
attachment  which  most  educated  Americans  entertained 
towards  this  country,  and  especially  to  those  localities 
which  were  identified  with  noble,  historic,  and  other 
glorious  associations.  And  of  all  the  counties  of  Eng- 
land, the  county  of  Warwick,  perhaps,  from  the  his- 
toric associations  connected  with  such  places  as  Kenil- 
worth,  Warwick,  and,  above  all,  Stratford-upon-Avon, 
appealed  most  to  the  hearts  of  Americans,  to  make 
them  feel  that  they  were  of  one  kindred  and  one  race 
with  ourselves.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  had  happened 
that  the  feelino;  had  manifested  itself  in  a  somewhat 

CD 

extraordinary  and  not  altogether  acceptable  manner. 
He  remembered  one  instance  of  this  which  brought  to 
his  mind  the  feeling  which  Henry  Y.  expressed  towards 
Catherine  when  he  said  that  he  loved  France  so  weli 
that  he  would  keep  it  all  to  himself.  About  thirty 
years  ago — it  might  be  more  ;  it  was  when  he  was  a 
young  man — it  occurred  to  an  enterprising  American 
that  there  was  not  suflBcient  feeling  in  Stratford-upon- 
Avon  towards  the  memory  of  her  immortal  poet,  and 
that  it  would  be  far  better  for  the  good,  at  all  events 
of  America,  if  the  Americans  put  in  practice  the  art 
for  which  they  were  known  to  be  so  eminently  distin- 
guished,— the  art  of  transplanting  houses.  It  actually 
occurred  to  an  enterprising  dweller  in  the  States  to 
purchase  and  remove  to  America  Shakespeare's  house. 
Whether  or  not  this  was  intended  as  a  scare  to  compel 
that  which  was  afterwards  done — the  purchase  and  the 

20* 


234     Tlie  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

public  guardianship  f»r  that  wonderful  treasure — it  "was 
not  for  him  to  say,  but  the  impression  it  made  on  his 
mind  was  perfectly  fresh,  and  he  had  no  doubt  it  was 
familiar  to  most  Americans.  It  had  produced  beneficial 
results  to  them  in  making  them  more  highly  and  more 
thoroughly  appreciate  the  honor  of  being  the  custodians 
of  Shakespeare's  house. 

"  With  regard  to  Mr.  Childs  himself  he  must  say  a 
few  words,  though,  as  the  American  Minister  had  said, 
that  was  a  subject  on  which  there  was  little  more  to 
say.  Mr.  Childs  was  probably  personally  unknown  to 
most  of  those  now  present.  He  was  a  man  with  a 
very  remarkable  history, — one  of  those  examples  of 
self-made  men  of  which  the  American  soil  seemed  to 
be  prolific;  men  who,  by  an  early  career  of  great  in- 
dustry, energy,  shrewdness,  and  perseverance,  acquired 
large  fortunes  and  employed  them  for  the  public  good. 
Mr.  Childs  began  life  in  a  very  humble  capacity, 
making  what  few  dollars  he  could  in  the  best  way  he 
could  find  to  his  hand.  He  became  a  publisher,  and 
amassed  in  that  business  a  considerable  sum.  But  he 
was  an  instance  of  a  man  who,  like  the  Mayor,  in- 
stinctively obeyed  the  wise  teaching  of  their  great  poet 
by  remembering  that  '  there  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of 
men  which  taken  at  the  flood  leads  on  to  fortune.'  He 
took  his  chance  at  the  flood,  and  became  the  purchaser 
of  the  Public  Ledger,  which  he  had  made  a  most  lucra- 
tive and  highly  honorable  paper,  and  upon  that  he  had 
built  a  fortune  which  had  enabled  him  to  perform  those 
acts  of  public  and  private  generosity  and  unbounded 
hospitality  to  all  Englishmen  who  had  the  good  fortune 
to  be  introduced  to  his  acquaintance,  and  of  which 
the  occasion  of  their  present  gathering  was  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  examples.  The  other  day,  in  reading 
a  book  which  Mr.  Childs  gave  him  many  years  ago, — 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     23-3 

a  remarkable  book,  by  an  American, — he  came  across 
a  passage  which  seemed  to  him  singularly  appropriate 
to  the  present  occasion,  Avliich  he  hoped  would  1)0 
sufficient  excuse  for  his  quoting  a  couple  of  stanzas 
from  it.  The  poet  was  apostrophizing  Shakespeare, 
and  said, — 

*  Deep  in  the  West,  as  Independence  moves, 
His  banners  planting  round  the  land  he  loves, 
Where  Nature  sleeps  in  Eden's  infiint  grace, 
In  Time's  full  hour  shall  spring  a  glorious  race. 
Thy  name,  thy  verse,  thy  language  shall  they  bear, 
And  deck  for  thee  the  vaulted  temple  there  ! 

'Our  Roman-hearted  fathers  broke 
Thy  parent  empire's  galling  yoke; 
But  thou,  harmonious  master  of  the  mind, 
Around  their  sons  a  gentler  chain  shall  bind ! 
Once  more  in  thee  shall  Albion's  sceptre  wave, 
And  what  her  monarch  lost  her  monarch-bard  shall  save !' 

"  One  word  to  give  some  idea  of  Mr.  Childs.  At  the 
present  moment  it  was  about  a  quarter-past  nine  by 
Philadelphia  time,  and  Mr.  Childs  was  sitting  at  his 
breakfast, — a  piece  of  dry  bread  and  a  cup  of  milk, — 
and  wondering  what  sort  of  a  day  it  was  going  to  be 
in  England,  and  how  the  most  interesting  ceremony 
at  Stratford  was  about  to  pass  off,  and  possibly  even 
thinking  in  what  terras  his  own  health  might  be  pro- 
posed. The  news  would  probably  have  reached  him 
before  he  had  drunk  his  last  cup  of  milk.  Now,  if  he 
had  to  describe  the  character  of  Mr.  Childs  in  a  single 
word,  he  should  do  so  in  a  word  which  was  impressed 
upon  his  mind  by  very  early  avssociations,  and  which 
the  Mayor  would  forgive  him  for  mentioning  on  tiie 
present  occasion.  Fifty-eight  years  ago  he  knew  a  little 
boy  at  school,  with  rosy  cheeks,  genial,  beaming  coun- 


236     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

tenance,  and  such  delightful  qualities  of  civility,  good- 
humor,  and  readiness  to  oblige,  that  his  school -fellows 
applied  to  him  the  epithet  of  '  trump.'  Most  school-boy 
epithets  were  not  complimentary,  and  he  had  never 
known  of  the  application  of  that  particular  epithet  to 
any  other  boy  than  that  one,  whom  he  remembered  as 
Trump  Hodgson.  He  had  developed,  in  the  course  of 
his  interesting  history,  into  the  Worshipful  Mayor  of 
Stratford-upon-Avon.  The  Mayor  would  excuse  him 
for  mentioning  the  circumstance,  and  not  think  he  was 
guilty  of  wishing  to  infringe  upon  his  monopoly  of  the 
title,  but  if  he  had  to  apply  one  epithet  rather  than 
another  to  Mr.  Childs  he  should  say  he  was  a  trump. 
lie  was  a  man  of  guileless  habits,  unselfish  disposition, 
a  readiness  to  do  good  in  any  way,  and  who  could  not 
possibly  do  an  ill  turn  to  any  one.  They  were  all 
indebted  to  Mr.  Childs  for  having  performed  an  act 
which  more  than  anything  else  would  help  to  impress 
upon  their  minds  the  duty  they  owed  to  preserve  the 
memory  of  their  immortal  bard  always  fresh  in  their 
minds,  lie  ardently  wished  the  rising  generation  could 
be  persuaded  to  read  more  and  more  of  Shakespeare 
and  less  of  the  trash  which  they  daily  devoured.  He 
commended  to  them  the  health  of  their  distinguished 
absent  friend,  Mr.  Childs,  and  asked  them,  not  only  to 
drink  to  his  present  health,  but  also  to  wish  him  a  long 
continuance  of  prosperity  and  happiness. 
"  The  toast  was  drunk  amid  loud  applause. 

REMARKS    OF    DR.    MACAULAY. 

"Dr.  Macaulay,  who,  as  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Childs, 
was  asked  to  reply  in  his  behalf,  said  he  had  been  told 
by  many  persons  that  this  gift  of  Mr.  Childs  to  Strat- 
ford was  creating  an  impression  in  America  perhaps 
even  beyond  the  value  of  the  gift.     And  why?     For 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     237 

the  same  reason  as  in  England,  that  it  was  regarded  as 
a  pledge  of  the  good  feeling  between  the  two  nations. 
At  the  present  time  there  Avas  a  very  unusual  deputa- 
tion in  America, — many  members  of  Parliament,  with 
others, — having  an  interview  with  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  trying  to  get  from  him  a  contract  that 
there  should  be  no  more  war  between  the  two  nations, 
and  that  every  question  in  dispute  should  be  submitted 
to  arbitration.  But  Mr.  Phelps  had  very  wisely  told 
them  contracts  were  of  no  avail  unless  they  were  sup- 
ported by  public  opinion,  and  he  (Dr.  Macaulay)  was 
sure  that  nothing  would  do  more  to  create  the  desired 
state  of  public  opinion  than  this  generous  act  of  Mr. 
Childs.  It  was  a  happy  thought,  this  gift  to  the  town 
of  Shakespeare  in  the  Jubilee  Year  of  Queen  Victoria, 
and  he  believed  it  would  strengthen  public  opinion  and 
make  any  diplomatic  arrangement  the  more  easy  by 
making  the  two  peoples  feel  that  they  had  a  common 
origin,  a  common  feeling,  and  a  common  sympathy  in 
all  things,  and  when  England  and  America  were  joined 
there  was  good  hope  for  the  security  of  the  freedom  and 
progress  of  the  civilized  world. 

MR.    IRVING* S    REMARKS. 

*'  Mr.  C.  E.  Flower  said  he  was  sure  that  the  Mayor 
had  allotted  to  him  a  most  pleasing  as  well  as  a  most 
honorable  duty  in  asking  him  to  propose  the  health  of 
their  friend,  Mr.  Henry  Irving. 

•'  Mr.  Irving,  who  was  greeted  with  cheers  again 
and  again  renewed,  said  :  '  I  thank  you  most  heartily 
for  your  most  kind  welcome.  An  actor  can  crave 
no  higher  distinction  than  that  of  being  prominently 
associated  with  some  public  work  in  connection  with 
Shakespeare's  memory  in  Shakespeare's  native  town. 


238     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

It  is  the  lasting  honor  of  the  actor's  calling  that  the 
poet  of  all  time  was  a  player,  and  that  he  achieved  im- 
mortality hy  writing  for  the  stage.  Of  all  the  elo- 
quent tributes  which  have  been  paid  to  Shakespeare 
one  ever  recalls  the  words  of  his  fellow-actors,  to  whose 
loving  care  we  owe  the  first  edition  of  his  works,  and 
who  tell  us  that  "  as  he  was  a  happy  imitator  of  Nature, 
he  w^as  a  most  gentle  expresserof  it."  All  we  can  desire 
in  the  artistic  embodiment  of  life  this  "  most  gentle 
expresser  of  Nature"  has  given  us.  I  would  like  to 
quote  a  few  words  on  this  sul)ject  which  seem  to  me  to 
embrace  a  very  great  deal,  — a  few  words  written  by  your 
Excellency's  famous  countryman  Emerson,  in  which  he 
pays  Shakespeare  a  tribute  which  it  would  be  very 
difficult  to  excel.  lie  says,  "We  can  discern,  by  his 
ample  pictures  of  the  gentleman  and  the  king,  what 
forms  and  humanities  pleased  him  ;  his  delight  in  troops 
of  friends,  in  large  hospitality,  in  cheerful  giving.  Let 
Timon,  let  "Warwick,  let  Antonio  the  merchant  answer 
for  his  great  heart.  So  far  from  Shakespeare  being  the 
least  known,  he  is  the  one  person  in  all  modern  history 
known  to  us.  AVhat  point  of  morals,  of  manners,  of 
economy,  of  philosophy,  of  religion,  of  taste,  of  the 
conduct  of  life,  has  he  not  settled  ?  What  mystery 
has  he  not  signified  his  knowledge  of?  What  offices, 
or  functions,  or  district  of  man's  work  has  he  not  re- 
membered? What  king  has  he  not  taught  state,  as 
Talma  taught  Napoleon?  What  maiden  has  not  found 
him  finer  than  her  delicacy  ?  What  lover  has  he  not 
outloved?  What  sage  has  he  not  outseen?  What 
gentleman  has  he  not  instructed  in  the  rudeness  of  his 
behavior  ?"  These  are  things  which  the  actor  treasures 
to  the  full  as  dearly  as  the  student,  and  the  actors  art 
to-day  comes  much  nearer  Shakespeare's  estimate  of 
its  importance  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the  community 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain,     239 

than  in  the  times  when  the  corporation  of  Stratford 
refused   to  permit  the   performance  of  Shakespeare's 
plays.     I  don't   intend    that   reminder  to    touch    any 
tender   spot   in   your   municipal   pride    now,   for   the 
phiyers  were  not  treated  with  contumely  in  Stratford 
at  all,  and  perhaps  it  was  the  influence  of  Shakespeare's 
memory  which  induced  the  corporation  on  one  occasion 
to  pay  them  the  handsome  sum  of  forty  shillings  to 
keep  away.     But  times  are  better  now,  and  I  am  quite 
sure  that  when  a  troop  of  Lyceum   players  come  to 
Stratford  they  will  settle  down  under  the  wing  of  the 
Worshipful  Mayor.     In  a  few  days  I  shall  sail  for  the 
great  country  where   any   worthy  representation  of 
Shakespeare  on  the  stage  commands  as  stanch  support 
from  the  public  as  in  our  own,  and  I  cannot  help  thank- 
ing Mr.  Phelps  for  his  most  genial  words,  which  repre- 
sent the  more  than  cordial — I  may  say  affectionate — 
welcome   which   we    have   always   received   from    his 
countrymen.     I  shall  act  as  your  ambassador  to  Mr. 
Childs,  and  I  hope  that  in  the  course  of  the  next  fort- 
night I  may  convey  to  him  your  enthusiastic  appre- 
ciation of  his  generous  gift.     I  shall  remember,  Mr. 
Walter,  your  kind  wishes  and  the  affectionate  tribute 
you  have  paid  him,  and  I  shall  be  the  happy  person  to 
convey,  I  hope,  to  him  my  impressions  of  to-day.     The 
ceremonial   of  to-day  must   have    given   the   greatest 
pleasure  to  all,  fm*  it  has  renewed  our  hallowed  asso- 
ciations with  the  mighty  dead,  and  it  has  reminded 
two  great  nations  of  a  bond  which  no  calamity  can 
dissolve.     And,  believe  me,  I  am  sure  it  will  make 
every  English-speaking   actor  in   the  world   prouder 
than  ever  of  the  calling  which  I  have  the  privilege  of 
representing  here  to-day.' 

"  The  Mayor,   in  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  re- 


240     Tlie  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

ceived    the    following    telegraphic   despatch    from    the 
donor  of  the  fountain  : 

'"Philadelphia. 
"  '  To  Sir  Arthur  Hodgson"  : 

"  'You  have  my  warmest  thanks  for  the  enlightened 
attention  you  gave  to  everything  relating  to  the  Shake- 
speare Fountain,  and  its  successful  dedication,  which 
is  a  personal  courtesy  superadded  to  the  official  duty  so 
well  performed,  and  which  it  was  certainly  very  gra- 
cious in  you  to  bestow. 

"  '  George  W.  Childs.' 

*'  An  occasional  poem,  written  by  Mrs.  R.  S.  de  C. 
Laflfiin,  on  the  opening  of  the  fountain,  was  read  by 
Mr.  Henry  Irving  to  the  company  assembled  at  Avon 
Bank  on  the  eve  of  the  ceremony  : 

"  *  Brothers  yet,  though  ocean  sever 

Your  free  hind  that  fronts  the  west 
From  the  church-yard  by  the  river, 
Where  our  common  fathers  rest : 

"  '  Brothers,  by  the  twin  rills  flowing 
From  one  fount  of  English  speech, 
By  the  common  memories  glowing 
Deep  within  the  heart  of  each  : 

"  '  It  is  yours,  as  it  is  ours, 

This  most  favored  spot  of  earth. 
Where  the  spring-time  crowned  with  flowers 
Gave  our  gentle  Shakespeare  birth. 

"'Here,  where  every  stone  reminds  us 
Of  the  name  that  each  reveres. 
Symbol  of  the  love  that  binds  us. 

Changeless  through  the  changing  years. 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     241 

"  *  Rear  the  fountain  :  let  the  chiming 
Of  its  peal  of  silver  bells 
Thrill  like  some  sweet  singer's  rhyming 
Every  heart  in  Avon's  dells. 

" '  Let  its  waters,  softly  plashing, 
Woo  the  weary  and  the  worn, 
Brightly  through  the  gloaming  flashing, 
Brightly  through  the  summer  morn. 

"  *  So  the  wanderer  onward  pressing, 
Thirsty,  way-worn,  weak  of  knee, 
Halting  here  shall  drink  a  blessing 
To  a  Friend  beyond  the  Sea.'  " 


VOICE   OF   THE   PRESS. 

The  London  Times,  on  the  next  day, 
October  18,  published  an  account  of  the 
dedication  ceremonies,  including  the  poem 
of  Dr.  Holmes,  the  addresses,  and  letters 
above  given,  filling  four  of  its  broad  long 
columns,  which  it  prefaced  as  follows,  under 
the  caption  of  "  Shakespeare  and  America 


55 


"  For  all  English-speakino;  people  there  is  a  pecu- 
liar and  almost  romantic  charm  about  the  town  in 
which  the  opening  and  closing  scenes  in  the  life  of 
Shakespeare  were  enacted.  So  inseparably,  indeed, 
are  most  of  the  scanty  personal  records  of  the  poet 
associated  with  Stratford-upon-Avon  that  the  place 
itself  has  lono-  since  been  invested  with  a  character 
not  far  removed  from  that  attaching  to  the  shrine  of 
a  saint  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Thousands  of  pilgrims 
annually  resort  to  the  quaint  little  midland  town  to 
examine  with  an  interest  akin  to  reverence  the  relics 
•L         q  21 


242     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

it  contains,  to  look  on  scenes  which  must  have  been 
familiar  to  the  poet,  and  to  stand  on  the  ground  for- 
ever sacred  to  his  name  and  memory.  Since  the  days 
of  Washino-ton  Irvinir,  American  faces  have  been  as 
numerous  in  Stratford  as  those  of  English  people,  and 
a  handsome  Memorial  Window  in  the  church  where 
Shakespeare's  dust  reposes  bears  testimony  to  Ameri- 
can appreciation  of  the  poet  and  his  work.  Another 
evidence  of  transatlantic  veneration  for  the  memory  of 
Shakespeare  was  seen  yesterday  at  Stratford.  This  time 
the  Memorial  has  assumed  the  form  of  a  public  drinking 
fountain  and  clock-tower,  which  an  American  citizen, 
Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  has  presented 
to  the  town.  The  ceremony  connected  with  the  dedi- 
cation of  this  new  monument  was  one  which  can  hardly 
fail  to  be  of  general  and  almost  world-wide  interest. 
The  representative  company  which  had  assembled  to 
witness  the  event,  together  with  the  international  char- 
acter of  the  gift  itself,  conspired  to  lend  a  more  than 
ordinary  importance  to  the  proceedings  on  this  occasion. 
"  The  ceremony  of  inaugurating  the  fountain  was 
performed  yesterday  at  noon  by  Mr.  Henry  Irving,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Mayor  of  Stratford-upon-Avon  (Sir 
Arthur  Hodgson,  K.C.M.G.),  the  Corporation,  and  a 
very  numerous  assemblage  of  visitors  and  townspeople. 
In  the  main  streets  of  Stratford  the  Union  Jack  and 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  conspicuously  displayed, 
and  the  town  wore  an  air  of  festivity  and  gayety 
throughout  the  day." 

On  the  same  day  the  London  Dally  Tele- 
graph published  an  account  of  the  celebra- 
tion as  extended  as  that  of  the  Times,  with 
the  subjoined  introduction : 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     243 

"Stratford-upon-Avon  —  supremely  lovely  at  all 
times  ;  hallowed  with  its  immortal  memory  of  Shake- 
speare ;  consecrated  to  literary  men  and  all  lovers  of 
the  stage  by  anniversaries,  and  jubilees,  and  kindly 
ceremonies  without  number — was  never  lovelier  than 
on  the  sunny  October  morning  when,  under  the  happy 
auspices  of  sunshine  and  good-fellowsliip,  the  leading 
actor  of  England  dedicated,  inaugurated,  and  conse- 
crated the  gift  of  an  American  citizen  to  the  home  and 
the  birthplace  of  the  poet  of  all  time.  All  the  hospi- 
table houses  in  the  neighborhood  were  full  of  distin- 
guished guests.  The  genial  and  popular  Mayor,  Sir 
Arthur  Hodgson,  had  invited  his  Excellency  the 
American  Minister,  who  appeared  not  in  any  diplo- 
matic capacity,  but  as  the  mouthpiece  and  representa- 
tive of  his  fellow-countryman,  Mr.  George  W.  Childs, 
of  Philadelphia,  whose  handsome  present  of  a  drinking 
fountain  now  stands  unveiled  and  flowing  with  fresh 
water  in  the  old  Rother  Market,  and  Sir  Theodore 
Martin,  who  was  selected  to  propose  in  his  own  grace- 
ful and  felicitous  manner  the  solemn  toast  of  the  '  Im- 
mortal Memory  of  Shakespeare.' 

"  There  was  the  imposing  new  fountain,  the  im- 
mediate object  of  attention  to  the  countless  pilgrims, 
the  beautiful  and  costly  gift  of  Mr.  Childs  ;  the  monu- 
ment all  pinnacles  and  stone  tracery,  the  handsome 
combination  of  drinking-trough  and  clock-tower  that 
stood  uncovered  in  the  bright  October  sunshine,  attract- 
ing innumerable  visitors  to  admire  its  proportions,  to 
discuss  its  style  of  architecture,  and  to  read  the  Shake- 
speare texts  engraved  on  every  available  panel. 

"  Monday  broke  over  Stratford  even  warmer,  sunnier, 
and  more  genial  than  the  day  before,  and  at  a  very  early 
hour  the  visitors  scattered  about  in  various  directions. 
The  greater  part  naturally  betook  themselves  to  the 


244     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

Shakespeare  Memorial  Buildings,  on  the  Avon  bank, 
already  mello-wing  down  with  age,  and  containing  the 
fruit  of  the  anxious  and  devoted  labors  of  the  Flower 
family  and  their  friends.  The  handsome  and  insulated 
theatre,  standing  at  the  lovely  bend  of  the  silent  river 
close  to  the  old  church,  is  now  supplemented  by  a  library 
and  a  picture-gallery  of  ample  proportions,  and  addi- 
tions to  both  are  earnestly  asked  by  those  who  have  by 
degrees  made  the  old  town  one  of  the  show-places  of 
England,  and  directed  thither  the  footsteps  of  countless 
American  pilgrims,  who  recite  Washington  Irving  in 
the  cosey  parlors  of  the  celebrated  Red  Horse,  and 
quote  Shakespeare  in  the  busy  market-place  or  the 
quiet  church-yard.  There  was  clearly  much  to  be  done 
before  mid-day  arrived,  the  hour  fixed  for  dedicating 
Mr.  Childs's  fountain  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  Shake- 
speare's native  home.  No  one,  for  instance,  could 
neglect  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  old  house  in  Henley  Street, 
which  Mr.  Walter,  in  the  course  of  the  day,  pleasantly 
reminded  us  was,  once  upon  a  time,  threatened  with 
annihilation  by  an  enterprising  American,  who  pro- 
posed to  carry  it  bodily  away  and  transplant  it  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  old  custodian's  bell  at 
the  Shakespeare  House  was  constantly  set  ringing, 
and  those  charming  and  courteous  ladies,  the  Miss 
Chattaways,  were  continually  repeating  the  well-known 
lecture  in  the  same  pleasant  and  cheerful  terms. 

''  Shortly  before  mid-day  a  procession  was  formed 
at  the  Town  Hall,  headed  by  Sir  Arthur  Hodgson, 
K.C.M.G.,  the  Mayor  of  Stratford,  who  was  preceded 
by  the  beadle  and  mace-bearers  of  the  ancient  cor- 
poration, and  followed  by  the  Mayors  of  Worcester, 
Lichfield,  Coventry,  Warwick,  Leamington,  and  other 
distinguished  guests.  There  was  only  one  sad  disap- 
pointment.    The  worthy  Mayor  had  received  a  letter 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     245 

from  Mr.  James  Russell  Lowell  regretting  his  inability 
to  be  present,  and  the  letter  of  apology  was  so  eloquent 
that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  read  it  to  the  assembled 
people  at  the  commencement  of  the  ceremony." 

Succeeding  this  was  a  report  of  the  im- 
posing ceremony,  the  poem,  letters,  and  ad- 
dresses; and  on  the  editorial  page  of  this 
great  journal  there  appeared  a  striking  lead- 
ing article,  the  style  of  which  will  readily 
be  recognized  as  that  of  the  great  Oriental 
scholar  and  poet.  Sir  Edwin  Arnold : 

"  The  handsome  fountain  and  clock-tower  just  erected 
in  Shakespeare's  town,  and  inaugurated  by  Mr.  Henry 
Irving,  are  the  gift  of  an  American  citizen,  Mr.  George 
"W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  well  known  already  in  his 
own  country  for  an  enlightened  mind  and  munificent 
deeds.  Such  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  greatest 
of  English  poets  is  one  that  can  be  heartily  hailed, 
and  for  which,  in  this  Jubilee  Year  of  our  Queen, 
there  was  place  and  propriety.  Equally  appropriate  it 
■was  that  the  dedication  of  this  graceful  gift  to  the  town 
of  Stratford  should  have  been  made  by  the  first  among 
living  interpreters  of  the  text  of  Shakespeare  upon  the 
stage.  No  actor  would  dispute  this  title  with  the  ac- 
complished and  scholarly  gentleman  who  has  done  so 
much  to  revive  popular  delight  in  the  works  of  the 
chief  of  dramatists,  and  by  this  and  other  examples 
has  so  notably  elevated  the  status  of  his  profession. 
In  the  excellent  speech  which  Mr.  Irving  delivered  at 
the  foot  of  the  'Jubilee  Memorial,'  he  touched  the  cen- 
tral point  of  the  ceremony  at  once  by  remarking  that 
in  that  spot,  of  all  spots,  Americans  and  Englishmen 

21* 


246     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

ceased  to  be  other  than  fellow-countrymen.  "NVe  might, 
indeed,  almost  call  Stratford-upon-Avon  the  joint  cap- 
ital of  the  British  England  and  of  the  American  Eng- 
land, as  tlie  Greeks  looked  upon  Delphi  as  the  true 
centre  of  the  habitable  globe,  American  life  and  lit- 
erature, as  Mr.  Irving  remarked,  are  as  much  stamped 
with  the  influence  of  the  Bard  of  Avon  as  are  our  own  ; 
and  it  is  at  once  the  most  satisfactory  and  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world  that  half  the  names  of  the 
visitors  inscribed  in  the  book  kept  at  the  '  historic  cot- 
tage' should  have  after  them  '  those  imposing  letters, 
U.S.A.'  "We  rejoice  to  think  that  every  American  beyond 
the  Atlantic  longs  to  visit  the  birthplace  of  Shakespeare, 
and  almost  every  one  who  comes  over  to  our  shores  goes 
thither  first  of  all  if  he  can.  They  are  quite  right. 
Shakespeare  belongs  to  them  as  much  as  to  us,  and  the 
fountain  of  Mr.  Childs  is  an  impressive  and  accepta- 
ble way  of  emphasizing  their  sense  of  property  in  the 
memorable  name.  Nor  was  Mr.  Irving  otherwise  than 
happily  inspired  in  praising  the  character  of  the  gift 
to  the  little  town.  It  is  simple,  natural,  homely,  and 
for  universal  use — is  a  fountain — like  the  genius  of  the 
poet.  As  he  remarked,  'Learned  and  unlearned,  gen- 
tle and  humble,  may  all  alike  drink  from  it;  and  so  it 
seems  to  me,'  said  the  speaker, '  that  no  happier  emblem 
of  Shakespeare's  work  in  his  native  place  could  have 
been  chosen.'  Possibly  we  English  might  have  been  a 
little  jealous  if  Mr.  Childs  had  proposed  to  erect  by  the 
silver  Avon  a  colossal  statue,  or  a  prodigious  pyramid, 
or  something  which  would  have  made  British  devotion 
look  small;  but  the  fountain  and  clock-tower  are  as 
becoming  as  they  are  significant  of  the  feelings  so  de- 
lightfully conveyed  in  the  letter  of  Mr.  James  Russell 
Lowell.  '  I  am  glad  to  think,'  he  wrote,  '  that  this 
memorial  should  be  the  gift  of  an  American,  and  thus 


The  Stratford-uj^on-Avon  Fountain.     247 

serve  to  recall  the  kindred  blood  of  the  two  jzreat  na- 
tions,  joint  heirs  of  the  same  noble  language  and  of 
the  genius  that  has  given  it  a  cosmopolitan  significance. 
I  am  glad  of  it  because  it  is  one  of  the  multiplying 
signs  that  those  two  nations  are  beginning  to  think 
more  and  more  of  the  things  in  which  they  sympathize, 
less  and  less  of  those  in  which  they  differ.' 

"  Thus,  then,  even  from  his  ashes  our  great  English- 
man renders  us  all  a  splendid  new  service,  drawing 
closer  together  those  portions  of  the  English-speaking 
race  which  must  never  again  be  enemies.     The  key- 
note which  had  been  so  well  and  justly  struck  by  Z>Ir. 
Irving  and  taken  up  by  Mr.  James  Russell  Lowell  was 
harmoniously  utilized  by  the  American  Minister,  who 
in  a  most  genial  and  friendly  speech  said  a  great  many 
happy  and  handsome  things  about  our  Queen,  our  coun- 
try, and  the  relations  between  Englishmen  and  Ameri- 
cans.    Mr.  Phelps  did,   indeed,   actually  charge   Mr. 
Henry  Irving  with  a  regular  diplomatic  mission,  for 
he  bade  the  universally  popular  actor  not  to  lose  an  op- 
portunity, the  next  time  he  was  called  upon  for  a  speech 
before  the  curtain  in  the  States,  of  relating  what  had 
been    said    and   done  at  Stratford-upon-Avon    in    the 
inauguration  of  the  Childs'  Memorial.     '  I  am  sure,' 
said  the  American  Minister,  '  it  will  not  make  his  wel- 
come less  cordial ;  and  long  may  this  fountain  stand 
and  flow,  an  emblem,  a  monument,  a  landmark — not 
the  only  one  by  many,  I  trust — of  the  permanent,  en- 
during, hearty,  cordial  friendship  between  my  country- 
men and  yours  !     May  many  generations  of  English- 
men  and   Americans   drink   together  of  its   waters !' 
Nothing  but  good  all  round  can  result  from  so  per- 
fectly  well-conceived    a    ceremony ;    nor   could    any 
words  more  fitly  express  this  than  those  with  which 
Mr.  Irving   closed    his  speech  of   thanks,  observing: 


248     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain, 

'  To-day's  ceremonial  has  given  infinite  pleasure  to  all, 
for  it  has  renewed  our  hallowed  associations  with  the 
mighty  dead,  and  it  has  reminded  two  great  nations  of 
a  bond  which  no  calamity  can  dissolve.  And,  believe 
me,  it  will  make  every  actor  in  the  world-wide  sphere 
of  Shakespeare's  influence  prouder  than  ever  of  the 
calling  which  I  have  the  privilege  of  representing 
here.'  " 

The  London  Glohe  of  the  18th  of  October 
said  in  introducins;  an  attractive  account  of 
the  dedicatory  ceremonies : 

"  There  was  general  rejoicing  at  Stratford-upon- 
Avon  yesterday,  the  occasion  being  the  inauguration 
of  a  splendid  drinking-fountain,  which  has  been  pre- 
sented to  the  town  as  a  Jubilee  Memorial  of  the 
Queen's  reign  by  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  donor  of  the  American  "Window  in  "West- 
minster Abbey  to  the  genius  of  Herbert  and  Cowper. 
The  ancient  borough  accepted  the  gift  with  enthusiasm, 
and  the  Mayor  and  corporation  issued  invitations  to 
one  hundred  guests.  The  American  Minister  (Mr. 
Phelps),  Sir  Philip  CunliflFe  Owen,  and  Mr.  John 
"Walter  were  the  guests  of  the  Mayor,  Sir  Arthur 
Hodgson ;  Sir  P.  Cunliife  Owen,  and  Mr.  Walter,  pro- 
prietor of  the  Times,  being  personal  friends  of  Mr. 
Childs.  Mr.  Henry  Irving,  who  had  accepted  the  task 
of  making  the  dedication,  was  among  the  distinguished 
guests.  The  early  trains  brought  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
of  "Warwickshire  and  the  Mayors  of  the  surrounding 
towns.  The  weather  was  beautifully  fine,  and  the 
town  was  decorated  with  bunting.  At  half-past  eleven 
o'clock  the  Mayor  and  the  members  of  the  corporation 
met  at  the  Town  Hall,  and  shortly  before  noon  marched 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain,     249 

in  procession  to  the  site  of  the  memorial,  accompanies^ 
by  Mr.  Irving  and  the  numerous  representatives  of 
literature,  art,  and  the  drama  Avho  had  been  invited. 
Mr.  Irving,  in  making  the  dedication,  spoke  of  Mr. 
Childs  as  not  only  an  admirable  representative  of  the 
public  spirit  and  enterprising  energy  of  Philadelphia, 
but  also  as  a  man  who  had  endeared  himself  to  a  very 
wide  circle  by  many  generous  deeds. 

"  A  telegram  was  received  from  the  Queen,  in  which 
Her  Majesty  stated  that  she  was  much  gratified  by  the 
kind  and  loyal  expressions  conveyed,  and  was  pleased 
to  hear  of  the  handsome  gift  by  Mr.  Childs  to  Stratford- 
upon-Avon.  Great  cheering  acknowledged  the  receipt 
of  this  telegram.  Mr.  Phelps's  speech,  in  which  he 
spoke  of  the  loyal  feeling  towards  the  Queen  enter- 
tained by  Americans,  was  also  received  with  loud 
cheers." 

The  thorough  and  geiiuiDe  appreciation 
of  Mr.  Childs's  gift  hy  the  English  people 
is  thus  finely  expressed  by  the  Warwick 
Adceriiser,  a  journal  of  influence  published 
near  to  the  home  of  Shakespeare : 

"  The  opening  of  the  Childs  Memorial  Fountain  at 
Stratford-upon-Avon  was  an  event  of  international 
importance.  The  spirit  in  which  the  gift  was  proffered 
and  received  will  tend  to  cement  the  bond  which  unites 
us  with  our  kinsmen  beyond  the  sea  in  that  great 
republic  of  the  West,  which  has  such  boundless  pos- 
sibilities in  store  for  the  Anglo-Saxon  race." 

In  the  issue  of  October  18,  the  London 
Pall  Mall  Gazette  published  a  very  effective 


250     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

pictorial   sketch  of  the  fountain,  with  the 
accompanying  account  of  the  ceremonies : 

"  The  handsome  clock-tower  and  fountain  which  Mr. 
Cliilds,  of  Philadelpliia,  has  presented  to  the  town  of 
Stratford-upon-Avon,  were  inaugurated  to-day  by  Mr. 
Henry  Irving.  It  is  fitting  tliat  a  memorial  to  the 
greatest  English  dramatic  poet  should  be  inaugurated 
by  that  poet's  greatest  living  interpreter  on  the  stage. 
Mr.  Irving  is,  moreover,  a  personal  friend  of  the  donor, 
Mr.  Childs,  to  whom  in  a  few  days  he  will  carry  the 
enthusiastic  thanks  of  the  town  for  his  generous  gift. 
Mr.  Irving  eulogized  Mr.  Childs  as  being  not  only  an 
admirable  representative  of  the  public  spirit  and  enter- 
prise of  Philadelphia,  but  also  as  a  man  who  had  en- 
deared himself  to  a  very  wide  circle  by  many  generous 
deeds." 

The  editorial  comment  of  the  Pall  3Iall 
Gazette  was  as  follows : 

"It  is  not  often  that  an  inauguration  goes  off  Avith 
such  unclouded  iclat  as  yesterday's  function  at  Strat- 
ford-upon-Avon. The  day  was  of  October's  best,  and 
the  ceremony  was  one  of  unique  interest, — the  open- 
ing, namely,  by  the  first  actor  in  England,  of  the 
drinklng-fountain  and  clock-tower  which  have  just 
been  erected  in  the  Rother  Market  as  a  tribute  by  an 
American  citizen  to  the  genius  of  Shakespeare  and  to 
the  virtues  of  Queen  Victoria.  Mr.  Childs  makes  the 
Jubilee  Year  the  occasion  of  his  gift.  But  it  was  per- 
haps not  so  much  either  the  fountain,  or  its  cost,  or 
even  the  international  character  of  the  gift,  which  col- 
lected from  all  parts  of  England  the  distinguished  com- 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     251 

pany  which  assembled  yesterday  in  the  Rother  Market, 
Few  Eno;lishmen  have  travelled  in  America  who  have 
not,  like  Sir  Philip  C.  Owen,  Mr.  Walter,  Mr.  Irvini;, 
and  Dr.  Macaulay,  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  Childs 
and  enjoyed  his  sumptuous  hospitality.  He  has  been 
to  them  a  sort  of  British  proxenos  in  Philadelphia,  and 
it  was  a  desire  to  testify  their  gratitude  and  friendship 
for  a  very  lovable  man  which  brought  many  to  Strat- 
ford yesterday.  There  was,  moreover,  a  certain  appro- 
priateness in  the  selection  at  the  subsequent  lunch  of 
Mr.  Walter,  the  owner  of  the  London  Times,  to  pro- 
pose the  health  of  Mr.  Childs,  the  owner  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Ledger.  In  their  respective  cities  those  two 
papers  represent,  and  have  now  for  many  years  repre- 
sented in  a  remarkable  degree,  the  sober  traditions  and 
stereotyped  proprieties  of  long-established  journalism. 
But  if  the  Times  represents  what  is  sober  and  solid,  the 
Ledger  is  the  very  essence  of  sobriety  and  solidity.  It 
has  never  yet  condescended  to  attract  readers  by  the 
exhibition  of  posters;  no  map  or  plan,  still  less  any 
portrait  or  engraving,  has  ever  variegated  the  uniform- 
ity of  its  pages.  Indeed,  many  people  go  so  far  as  to 
say  that  the  thousands  of  persons  who  peruse  the 
Ledger  read  it  from  pure  affection  and  regard  for  Mr. 
Childs.  One  of  its  most  distinctive  peculiarities  is 
that  it  never  says  an  ill  word  of  any  one,  not  even  of 
a  mother-in-law.  But  perhaps  the  real  secret  of  Mr. 
Childs's  popularity  is  not  so  much  his  abstinence  from 
ill  words  as  the  abundance  of  his  good  deeds.  The 
Stratford  fountain  is  one  of  many  public  benefactions, 
but  his  public  benefactions,  as  any  one  acquainted  with 
Philadelphia  will  bear  witness,  are  far  outnumbered 
by  a  multitude  of  acts  of  private  charity  and  kindness 
of  which  the  public  never  hears  at  all.  'I  intend,' 
said  Mr.  Childs  to  a  friend  on  last  New  Year's  day, 


252     TJie  Sirafford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

*  to  be  kinder  this  year  than  ever  I  was  before ;'  and 
the  saying  and  tlie  fact  that  he  said  it  are  very  char- 
acteristic of  Mr.  Childs. 

"  Perhaps,  however,  of  all  said  and  M'ritten,  tlie 
sentence  that  will  last  longest  is  one  of  those  selected 
by  Dr.  Macaulay  and  engraved  on  the  fountain,  which, 
for  appropriateness,  was  never  surpassed  and  deserves 
to  appear  on  other  fountains :  '  Honest  water,  which 
ne'er  left  man  i'  the  mire.'  ('Timon  of  Athens,'  Act 
1,  Scene  2.)  A  bottle  filled  with  this  'honest  water,' 
and  carefully  sealed  up,  was  delivered  to  Mr.  Irving, 
and  will  be  duly  conveyed  by  him  to  America  next 
Thursday  for  presentation  to  Mr.  Childs  in  Philadel- 
phia." 

In  its  issue  of  October  18,  the  Birming- 
liam  Daily  Post,  a  journal  which  in  character 
and  influence  is  to  England's  provincial  press 
Avhat  the  London  Times  is  to  metropolitan 
journalism,  gave  the  subjoined  introduction 
to  an  account  of  the  memorial  ceremony, 
which  occupied  the  larger  part  of  one  of  its 
spacious  pages : 

*'  Stratford-upon-Avon  arrayed  herself  in  a  festival 
garment  of  sunshine  yesterday,  for  a  function  which, 
if  not  quite,  as  the  Mayor  enthusiastically  called  it, 
'  the  crowning  event  of  the  Jubilee  Year,'  was  of 
striking  internal  and  literary  significance.  Mr.  Henry 
Irving  inaugurated  the  memorial  fountain  and  clock- 
toAver  which  Mr.  G.  W.  Childs,  a  citizen  of  Philadel- 
phia, has  presented  to  the  town.  The  function  was  a 
singularly  quiet  one,  as  all  functions  in  such  an  old- 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     253 

world  place  as  Stratford  must  necessaril}'  be ;  but  it 
was  not  the  less  significant  and  interesting  on  that 
account.  Mr.  Childs's  beautiful  gift  is  remarkable 
alike  as  a  reverent  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Shake- 
speare from  a  distant  member  of  the  English-speaking 
race,  and  as  a  token  of  the  good-will  which  subsists 
between  the  British  and  the  American  nations.  More- 
over, the  little  crowd  which  gathered  to  assist  at  the 
ceremony  was  representative  in  some  degree  of  the 
whole  race,  of  all  the  learned  professions,  and  of  all 
estates  of  the  realm." 

In  the  same  number  of  the  Dailj  Post,  the 
followino:  editorial  comment  was  made : 

"  Literature  and  Art,  the  Press  and  the  Stage,  Eng- 
land and  America,  joined  hands  yesterday  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon,  in  doing  honor  to  one  of  the  most  illustri- 
ous representatives  of  our  common  stock,  and  in  doing 
so  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  they  did  honor 
to  themselves  and  contributed  in  no  mean  degree  to 
draw  closer  the  bonds  of  union  between  the  great  two 
branches  of  the  English-speaking  race.  The  memorial 
fountain  and  clock-tower,  which  were  formally  pre- 
sented to  Sliakespeare's  native  town  on  this  occasion 
on  behalf  of  Mr,  Childs,  the  well-known  newspaper 
proprietor  and  editor  of  Philadelphia,  are  not  by  any 
means  the  first  tribute  of  the  kind  whicli  has  been 
offered  up  by  American  citizens  at  that  beloved  shrine, 
which  is  every  year  the  Mecca  for  so  many  troops  of 
reverent  pilgrims  from  beyond  the  Atlantic ;  but  Mr. 
Childs' s  gift  possesses  a  special  international  signifi- 
cance from  the  expressed  desire  of  the  donor  that  it 
should  be  construed  as  a  token  of  good-will  towards  us 

22 


254     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

in  this  year  of  the  Jubilee,  and  should  serve  to  cement 
the  union  of  two  great  nations  *  that  have  the  fame 
and  works  of  the  poet  Shakespeare  as  their  common 
heritage.'  And  that  nothing  might  be  vs'anting  to  the 
completeness  of  yesterday's  function,  the  dedication 
was  graced  by  characteristic  contributions  from  some 
of  the  most  renowned  men  of  letters  in  the  great 
republic  of  the  West,  including  Mr.  James  Russell 
Lowell,  the  ex- American  Minister ;  Mr.  John  Green- 
leaf  Whittier,  the  venerable  Quaker  poet ;  and  Dr. 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  whose  poem,  specially  written 
for  the  occasion,  so  happily  and  eloquently  expresses 
the  aspirations  to  which  the  gift  naturally  lends  itself. 
On  the  English  side,  the  stage,  which  is  under  so  deep 
and  special  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  great  dramatist, 
was  not  unworthily  represented  by  Mr.  Irving,  on 
whom  devolved  the  proud  task  of  inaugurating  the 
memorial ;  whilst  the  English  newspaper  press,  in  the 
person  of  Mr.  Walter,  the  chief  proprietor  of  the  Times, 
cordially  acknowledged  and  welcomed  this  substantial 
token  of  good-will  from  a  brother  journalist  of  the 
New  World.  The  Queen's  message  of  congratulation 
was  a  happy  thought,  wdiicli  cannot  but  assist  the 
working  of  the  charm  ;  and  the  proceedings  altogether 
were  of  an  order  to  entitle  the  day  to  a  red-letter  mark 
in  the  calendar,  not  only  of  Stratford,  but  of  England 
and  the  United  States." 


Oil  the  same  day  the  Liverpool  Fosi, 
another  provincial  journal  of  high  char- 
acter, prefaced  the  long  and  interesting  re- 
port of  the  proceedings  at  Stratford  with 
these  friendly  remarks : 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     255 

"  The  fraternal  relations  of  the  two  great  nations 
which  regard  the  works  of  Shakespeare  as  a  common 
heritage  were  shown  in  a  happy  manner  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon  to  day.  Some  time  ago  a  prominent  and 
respected  citizen  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  George  W. 
Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  determined  to  celebrate  the 
Jubilee  Year  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign  by  a  memorial 
of  American  sympathy  to  be  erected  in  the  birthplace 
of  England's  greatest  poet.  Mr.  Childs,  it  may  be 
recollected,  is  the  donor  of  the  American  window 
placed  in  Westminster  Abbey  to  the  memory  of  George 
Herbert  and  William  Cowper.  Mr.  Childs' s  gift  to 
Stratford  has  taken  the  form  of  a  drinking-fountain 
and  clock-tower,  and  their  inauguration  to-day  was 
made  the  occasion  of  a  ceremonial  of  international  in- 
terest, forming  both  a  welcome  and  substantial  bene- 
fit to  the  town  and  a  graceful  addition  to  its  many 
points  of  natural  and  historic  interest.  Stratford  ac- 
cepted the  bequest  with  a  heartiness  at  once  agreeable 
to  its  author,  and  illustrative  of  the  friendly  feeling  of 
the  Warwickshire  people  for  those  of  the  great  republic 
of  the  West." 

The  American  newspaper  press  demon- 
strated, b}^  the  publication  of  special  cable 
despatches,  by  letters  from  special  corre- 
spondents, and  by  editorial  expressions  of 
approval  and  admiration,  that  the  interest 
in  and  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  Mr. 
Childs's  gift  were  not  less  strong  among 
the  people  of  this  country  than  among 
those  of  England.  The  despatches  from 
Stratford   to   the   I^ew   York    World    filled 


25G     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain, 

four  and  a  half  colurons  of  tliat  journal,  of 
which  the  accompanying  abstract  is  made : 

"  George  W.  Childs's  memorial  to  Shakespeare  was 
inaugurated  to-day  with  much  imposing  ceremony. 
Stratford-upon-Avon  has  never  before  held  so  many 
strangers  within  its  walls  as  to-day.  Hundreds  of 
Americans  ran  down  from  London  last  night  and  by 
the  early  morning  trains,  taxing  to  the  utmost  the  some- 
what  limited  facilities  of  the  quiet  old  town  for  harbor- 
ing transient  guests.  The  new  Shakespeare  House  was 
packed  with  transatlantic  pilgrims,  and  some  amuse- 
ment was  created  by  the  boniface  shouting  out,  as  the 
weary  wayfarers  arrived,  '  Take  this  young  couple  up 
to  Romeo  and  Juliet.'  The  chambers  in  the  old  inn  bear 
the  names  of  the  works  written  by  the  immortal  Will 
— or  somebody  else.  A  melancholy  American  trage- 
dian, lately  crushed  by  the  English  critics,  seemed 
somewhat  put  out  when  shown  up  to  '  Hamlet,'  and 
an  elderly  couple  from  Chicago  did  not  like  their 
quarters  in  '  Love's  Labor's  Lost.'  For  the  first  time 
in  two  weeks,  according  to  the  local  weather  man,  the 
sun  shone  in  Stratford  this  morning,  setting  off  the 
handsome  gift  of  the  philanthropic  Philadelphian  to  its 
best  advantage.  From  dawn  until  mid-day  the  roads 
from  the  surrounding  country  were  thronged  with 
every  sort  of  vehicle,  from  the  dog-cart  of  the  gentry 
to  the  ox-team  of  the  yokel.  The  local  and  neighbor- 
ing dignitaries,  bearing  up  proudly  under  their  massive 
gold  chains  and  other  weighty  insignia  of  oflBce,  strode 
through  the  broad  streets  lined  with  quaint  old-fash- 
ioned houses,  making  a  truly  old-world  picture. 

"When  the  time  came  Ma3^or  Hodgson  wound  up 
the  clock  in  the  stone  spire,  and  Henry  Irving  turned 
on  the  first  flow  of  the  precious  liquid.     But  the  arrival 


Tlie  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     257 

of  the  Queen's  telegram  was  the  sensation  of  the  day, 
not  being  on  the  card  and  being  quite  unexpected.  The 
telegraph-operator  rushed  headlong  from  the  office  down 
to  the  square.  Mr.  Phelps's  speech  was  interrupted, 
and  the  precious  despatch  was  read.  It  was  the  first 
time  that  Stratford  has  heard  from  the  Queen  tele- 
graphically for  thirty-five  years. 

"  Graceful  in  its  inception,  the  generous  gift  of  Mr 
Childs  was  gracefully  received,  and  the  ceremonies 
concluded  in  the  most  graceful  manner  possible  by  a 
banquet,  which  was  as  excellent  in  the  material  way  as 
had  been  the  preceding  flow  of  wit  and  wisdom.  The 
Stratford  folk  do  not  seem  to  be  imbued  in  the  least 
with  any  belief  in  the  Baconian  theory.  In  fact,  they 
look  upon  it  as  a  base  attempt  to  rob  their  town  of  one 
of  its  chief  claims  to  revenue  and  repute,  and  regard 
it  as  being  inspired  by  an  invidious  neighbor." 

The  account  of  the  day  and  its  ceremonies 
telegraphed  to  the  ISTew  York  Herald  was 
only  less  extended  than  that  published  by  its 
neighbor  the  World,  but  it  was  still  lengthy 
enough  to  serve  as  a  brief  epitome  and  chron- 
icle of  the  notable  celebration,  its  author 
being  Hon.  A.  Oakey  Hall,  formerly  Mayor 
of  iSTew  York  Citv,  but  at  the  time  of  the 
dedication  he  was,  as  he  now  is,  an  eminent 
London  journalist,  representing  in  the  great 
metropolis  with  scholarly  ability  the  Herald, 
Mr.  Hall's  account  is  so  admirably  written, 
and  presents  so  attractive  a  view  of  Stratford 
on  the  da}'  of  the  fountain's  dedication,  as  to 

r  22* 


258     Tlie  St  raff ord-upon- Avon  Fountain. 

render  its  introduction  here  more  tlian  par- 
donable.    Mr.  Oakoj  Hall  said, — 

"  The  names  of  William  Shakespeare  and  George 
William  Childs  will  be  indissolubly  united  after  this 
day  in  this  city,  where  the  editor's  fountain  and  clock- 
tower  were  added  to  the  bard's  memorials  to  glorify 
this  historic  spot.  The  Phihidelphian's  gift  was  long 
ago  described  in  the  Herald  when  the  designs  were 
adopted.  As  completed  and  this  morning  dedicated, 
the  gift  is  doubtless  one  of  the  most  artistic  fountains 
in  the  world,  as  will  be  seen  when  some  of  the  several 
thousand  photos  now  multiplying  reach  New  York. 

"  At  noon  a  procession  left  the  Town  Ilall  to  march 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  fountain,  which  fronts  a 
square  formed  by  the  junction  of  several  streets  and 
is  looked  upon  by  Shakespeare's  house.  The  procession, 
headed  by  the  Mayor  and  aldermen  in  full  regalia,  es- 
corting Mr.  Irving  and  thirty  guests,  was  preceded  by 
a  band  playing  British  patriotic  airs.  On  arriving  at 
the  variegated  granite  gift,  Mayor  Hodgson,  in  gorgeous 
robes  and  chain,  presenting  a  decidedly  classic  face  and 
figure,  took  his  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  leading 
up  to  the  fountain. 

"  After  reading  a  quaint  letter  from  the  poet  Whittier 
and  another  from  James  Russell  Lowell,  he  briefly  ex- 
plained the  object  of  the  gathering,  with  eulogistic  and 
AvcU-expressed  references  to  Mr.  Childs,  and  compli- 
mentary allusions  to  America,  '  the  adopted  country 
of  Shakespeare,'  and  introduced  Minister  Phelps  as 
the  representative  of  the  United  States.  The  latter's 
speech,  given  with  diplomatic  skill,  was  short  but  full 
of  meaning. 

"  Mr.  Irving  stood  within  the  dry  basin  in  dedicating 
the  gift,  and,  with  fine  elocution,  made  an  address  last- 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     2-39 

ing  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
said,  as  a  part  of  the  peroration, — 

"  '  The  donor  of  this  beautiful  monument  I  am  happy 
to  claim  as  a  personal  friend.  3Ir.  George  W.  Childs 
is  not  only  an  admirable  representative  of  the  public 
spirit  and  enterprising  energy  of  Philadelphia,  but  he 
is  also  a  man  who  has  endeared  himself  to  a  very  wide 
circle  by  many  generous  deeds. 

"  '  I  do  not  wonder  at  his  munificence,  for  to  men 
like  him  it  is  second  nature  ;  but  I  rejoice  in  the  happy 
inspiration  which  prompted  a  gift  which  so  worthily 
represents  the  common  homage  of  two  great  peoples  to 
the  most  famous  man  of  tiieir  common  race. 

"  'The  simplest  records  of  Stratford  show  that  this 
is  the  Mecca  of  American  pilgrims,  and  that  the  place 
which  gave  birth  to  Shakespeare  is  regarded  as  the 
fountain  of  the  mightiest  and  most  enduring  inspira- 
tion of  our  mother  tonijue.' 

"  The  following  was  his  epilogue  :  '  Let  me  conjure 
fancies.  Let  me  picture  Shakespeare  to-day  returning 
from  his  bourne  to  find  upon  the  throne  one  who  rules 
with  gentler  sway  than  the  great  sovereign  that  he 
knew,  and  yet  whose  reign  has  glories  more  beneficent 
than  those  of  Elizabeth.  We  can  try  to  imagine  his 
emotion  when  he  finds  this  dear  England  he  loved  so 
well  expanded  beyond  seas. 

"'We  can  at  least  be  happy  in  the  thought  that 
when  he  had  mastered  the  lessons  of  the  conflict  which 
divided  us  from  our  kinsmen  in  America,  he  would  be 
proud  to  see  in  Stratford  this  gift  of  a  distinguished 
American  citizen — this  memorial  of  our  reunion — • 
under  the  shadow  of  his  undj'ing  name.' 

"  During  his  speech  Mr.  Irving  referred  to  the  manu- 
script ode  which  he  had  previously  read,  and  which 
was  written  for  the  occasion  by  Dr.  Holmes. 


2G0     The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain, 

"  Then  Dr.  Macaulay,  as  a  personal  friend  of  Mr. 
Childs,  and  Mr.  Irving,  representing  the  authorities, 
lointlv  turned  on  the  water  into  the  larsre  drinkinic- 
fountain  for  horses  and  cattle,  the  smaller  one  for 
dogs,  and  the  interior  one  for  thirsty  pedestrians,  while 
simultaneously  invisible  hands  inside  the  clock-tower 
set  the  hour  and  started  the  works.  The  first  flow, 
however,  was  caught  in  a  flat  glass  jar,  bought  at  the 
bar  of  the  Shakespeare  Inn,  hard  by,  and  was  handed 
by  Sir  Philip  Cunliffe  Owen  to  Mr.  Irving,  to  be  by 
him  presented  in  person  to  Mr.  Childs. 

"  The  royal  toasts  were  fully  honored.  Minister 
Phelps  eulogized  President  Cleveland  and  gallantly 
referred  to  Mrs.  Cleveland.  Dr.  Macaulay  and  then 
Sir  Philip  Cunliffe  Owen  responded  to  the  health  of 
Mr.  Childs ;  but  the  best  speech  was  by  Mr.  Irving, 
responding  to  the  memory  of  Shakespeare,  and  con- 
cludinir  thus : 

"  '  In  a  few  days  I  shall  sail  for  the  great  country 
where  any  worthy  representation  of  Shakespeare  on 
the  stage  commands  as  stanch  a  support  from  the  pub- 
lic as  in  our  own  land.  I  shall  carry,  as  your  ambas- 
sador to  Mr.  Childs,  your  enthusiastic  appreciation  of 
his  generous  gift.' 

"  In  response  to  a  call,  John  Walter,  of  the  London 
Times,  made  a  few  off-hand  remarks  about  Mr.  Childs's 
hospitality  to  himself  when  in  America,  applying  to 
Mr.  Childs  the  line  about  taking  the  tide  at  flood  which 
led  him  on  to  fortune. 

"Next,  turning  towards  Mayor  Hodgson,  he  said, 
'We  were  boys  at  Eton.  Until  to-day  we  have  not 
met  in  half  a  century.  He  was  known  at  school  as 
"Trump  Hodgson."  When  I  saw  him  to-day,  my 
salutation  was,  "How  d'ye  do.  Trump?"  And  cer- 
tainly, along  with    Mr.    Childs,  as   I   turn   from    the 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     2G1 

fountain  to  the  banquet,  he  has  proven  himself  a  very 
trump.' 

"  This  was  heartily  received  by  all  the  guests,  and 
all  separated  with  the  line  aptly  chosen  at  the  end 
of  the  meim  from  'All's  ^Yell  That  Ends  Well:'  'A 
good  traveller  is  something  at  the  latter  end  of  a 
dinner.'  " 

With  no  known  exception  the  leading 
newspapers  of  the  United  States  printed 
special  or  Associated  Press  despatches  from 
Stratford,  which  were  generally  accompanied 
by  editorial  remarks  referring  to  the  cele- 
bration of  the  previous  day.  Of  the  several 
hundred  appreciative  editorial  articles  which 
were  kindly  sent  me  by  their  writers  I  have 
thoui^ht  it  not  unlit  to  use  a  few  to  round 
out  this  history  of  the  Shakespeare  Memorial 
on  the  Avon- side.  That  w^hich  so  attrac- 
tively characterized  all  the  elaborate  reports 
and  remarks  of  both  the  English  and  Amer- 
ican journals  was  the  common  recognition 
and  fine  appreciation  of  the  spirit  of  inter- 
national good-will  which  inspired  Mr.  Childs 
to  set  up  there,  near  by  the  poet's  home,  an 
endurino;  memorial  of  the  love  and  reverence 
of  all  English-speaking  people  for  that  sub- 
lime genius  who  filled  not  only  the  spacious 
times  of  Great  Elizabeth  but  all  times  since 
with  the  wondrous  wisdom  and  beauty  of 
his  thought  and  feeling. 


2G2     The  Straff ord-uj)on- Avon  Fountain. 

The  'Hew  York  Times  referred  editorially, 
on  October  18,  to  the  dedication  of  the 
fountain,  as  follows  : 

"  The  proceedings  at  Stratford-upon-Avon  on  Monday 
in  dedicating  to  the  memory  of  Shakespeare  the  me- 
morial fountain  presented  to  the  town  by  Mr.  George 
W.  Childs,  of  Phihidelphia,  afforded  one  of  those  oc- 
casions upon  which  Englishmen  and  Americans,  espe- 
cially the  latter,  delight  to  recognize  the  common  ties 
of  tradition  and  literature  which  unite  the  two  peoples 
in  a  relationship  made  too  strong  by  natural  kinship 
to  be  severed  by  oft-recurring  conflicts  of  interest.  It 
is  doubtful  if,  even  in  England,  there  is  such  a  universal 
reading  and  understanding  of  the  works  of  Shakespeare 
among  the  mass  of  the  people  as  in  this  country,  or 
such  a  general  appreciation  of  the  grand  heritage  of 
English  literature.  The  sympathy  produced  by  this 
common  possession  of  a  language  and  literature  is 
stronger  than  is  generally  acknowledged,  and  it  is  the 
basis  of  a  mutual  understanding  that  ought  to  be  a 
guarantee  of  perpetual  friendly  relations.  Incidents 
like  that  of  yesterday,  brought  about  by  a  generous 
and  public-spirited  American,  are  of  value  in  remind- 
ing the  two  nations  of  what  they  have  in  common,  and 
in  teaching  them  to  be  tolerant  in  those  things  in 
which  they  differ." 

The  Daily  News,  of  Baltimore,  referring 
to  the  universal  interest  which  everything 
of  moment  relating  to  Shakespeare  creates, 
said, — 

"  The  description  of  the  dedication  of  Mr.  Childs's 
fountain  has  been  given  as  much  space  by  the  press^ 


Tlie  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     263 

British  and  American — as  some  great  political  event 
might  have  been. 

"  The  Stratford  ceremonies  were  in  every  way  in- 
teresting. Mr.  Childs,  in  presenting  the  beautiful 
fountain  to  the  town,  only  did  what  many  others 
would  like  to  have  done.  Some  other  object  he  might 
have  offered, — there  are  many  ways  in  which  his  ad- 
miration for  the  poet  might  have  expressed  itself;  but, 
after  all,  as  Mr.  Irving  remarked,  there  seems  some- 
thing particularly  appropriate  in  the  fountain  which 
has  been  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  quaint  old  town, 
for  the  use  of  all,  and  for  beast  as  well  as  man. 

"  The  occasion  was  altogether  one  of  which  Amer- 
icans may  be  as  proud  as  Mr.  Childs  must  be.  Aa 
Irving  remarked,  it  is  the  Americans  who  have  always 
been  foremost  in  making  pilgrimages  and  paying 
tributes  to  the  Stratford  poet.  Mr.  Childs  has  done 
many  things  to  show  the  exalted  character  of  his  mind 
and  his  goodness  of  heart,  and  it  seems  that  he  could 
not  rest  until  he  had  made  a  gift  of  this  beautiful  foun- 
tain— according  to  all  accounts,  one  of  the  most  artistic 
in  the  world — to  the  memory  of  Shakespeare." 

'No  one  has  more  pleasantly  told  the  story 
of  the  fountain  than  has  Mr.  William  Win- 
ter, the  poet,  journalist,  and  critic.  His 
sympathy  with  the  purpose  of  the  giver  of 
the  memorial  is  as  hroad  as  his  reverent  love 
for  Shakespeare  is  profound,  and  to  both 
which  sympathy  and  love  he  has  borne  tes- 
timony in  books,  essays,  poems,  letters,  and 
criticisms.  He  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of 
American  writers,  and  one  whose  audience, 


264     The  Strafford-upon-Avon  Fomitain. 

wliile  always  large,  is  always  fit.  Harper's 
Weekly  of  October  22,  1887,  published  an 
excellent  illustration  of  the  Stratford  Foun- 
tain, accompanied  by  a  characteristic  sketch 
by  Mr.  Winter,  from  which  are  taken  the 
following  extracts : 

"  American  interest  in  Stratford-upon-Avon  spring;s 
out  of  a  love  for  the  works  of  Sliakespeare  as  profound 
and  passionate  as  that  of  the  most  sensitive  and  rev- 
erent of  the  poet's  own  countrymen.  It  was  the  father 
of  American  literature — Washington  Irving — who  in 
modern  times  made  the  first  pilgrimage  to  that  Holy 
Land,  and  set  the  good  example,  which  since  has  been 
followed  by  thousands,  of  worship  at  the  shrine  of 
Shakespeare.  Wherever  in  Stratford  you  come  upon 
anything  that  was  ever  associated,  even  remotely,  with 
the  name  and  fame  of  Shakespeare,  there  you  will 
surely  find  the  gracious  tokens  of  American  homage. 

"  A  noble  token  of  this  American  sentiment  and  a 
permanent  object  of  patriotic  interest  to  the  pilgrim  in 
Stratford  is  supplied  by  the  Jubilee  gift  of  a  drinking- 
fountain,  made  to  that  city  by  George  W.  Childs,  of 
Philadelphia.  It  never  is  a  surprise  to  hear  of  some 
new  instance  of  that  good  man's  constant  activity  and 
splendid  generosity  in  good  works :  it  is  only  an  ac- 
customed pleasure.  With  fine-art  testimonials  in  the 
Old  World  as  well  as  at  home  his  name  will  always  be 
honorably  associated.  A  few  years  ago  he  presented  a 
superb  window  of  stained  glass  to  AVestminster  Abbey, 
to  commemorate  in  the  Poet's  Corner  George  Herbert 
and  William  Cowper.  He  has  since  given  to  St.  Mar- 
garet's Church,  Westminster,  where  Skelton  and  Sir 
James  Harrington    (1611-1G77)  were   entombed,  and 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     2G5 

where  was    buried  the  headless  body  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  a  pictorial  window  commemorative  of  John 
Milton.     His  fountain  at  Stratford  was  dedicated  on 
October   17,  1887,  with    appropriate  ceremonies  con- 
ducted by  the  city's  Mayor,  Sir  Arthur  Hodgson,  of 
Clopton  Hall,  and  amid  general  rejoicing.     The  coun- 
trymen of  Mr.  Childs  are  not  less  interested  in  this 
structure  than  the  community  that  it  was  intended  to 
honor  and  benefit.     They  observe  with  satisfaction  and 
pride  that  he  has  made  this  beneficent,  beautiful,  and 
opulent  offering  to  a  town  which  for  all  of  them  is 
hallowed  by  exalted  associations,  and  for  many  of  them 
is  endeared  by  delightful  memories.     They  sympathize 
also  with  the  motive  and  feeling  that  prompted  him  to 
offer  his  gift  as  one  among  many  memorials  of  the 
fiftieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria.     It  is  not 
every  man  who  knows  how  to  give  with  grace,  and  the 
good  deed  is  '  done  double'  that  is  done  at  the  right 
time.     Stratford  had  long  been  in  need  of  such  a  foun- 
tain  as  Mr.  Childs  has  given,  and  therefore  it  satisfies 
a  public  want,  at  the  same  time  that  it  serves  a  purpose 
of  ornamentation  and  bespeaks  and  strengthens  a  bond 
of  international  sympathy.     Rother  Square,  in  which 
the   structure    stands,  is  the  most  considerable  open 
tract  in  Stratford,  and  is  situated  near  the  centre  of 
the  town,  on  the  west  side.     There,  as  also  at  the  in- 
tersection of  High  and  Bridge  streets,  which  are  the 
principal    thorouglifares  of  the   city,  the    farmers,   at 
stated  intervals,  range  their  beasts  and  wagons  and 
hold    a   market.     It   is   easv   to   foresee   that   Rother 
Square,  as  now  embellished  with  this  superb  monu- 
ment,  which    combines    a   convenient   clock-tower,    a 
place  of  rest  and  refreshment  for  man,  commodious 
drinking-troughs  for  horses,  cattle,  dogs,  and  sheep, 
will  become  the  agricultural  centre  of  the  rc(;;ion. 
M  23 


266     The  Sir aijord-upon- Avon  Fountain. 

"The  base  of  the  monument  is  made  of  Peterhciid 

granite ;    the    superstructure    is  of  gray   stone — from 

Bolton,  Yorkshire.     The  inscriptions  at  the  base  are 

these  : 

I. 

*Thc  gift  of  an  American  citizen,  Geohge  W.  Childs,  of 

Philadelphia,  to  the  town  of  Shakespeare,  in  the 

Jubilee  Year  of  Queen  Victoria.' 

II. 

*In  her  days  every  man  shall  eat,  in  safety 
Under  his  own  vine,  what  he  plants ;  and  sing 
The  merry  songs  of  peace  to  all  his  neighbors. 
God  shall  be  truly  known  :  and  those  about  her 
From  her  shall  read  the  perfect  ways  of  honor, 
And  by  those  claim  their  greatness,  not  by  blood. 

Henry  VIIL,  Act  V.,  Scene  IV/ 

III. 

*  Honest  water,  which  ne'er  left  man  i'  the  mire. 

Timon  of  Athens,  Act  I.,  Scene  II.' 

IV. 

*  Ten  thousand  honors  and  blessings  on  the  bard  who 
has  gilded  the  dull  realities  of  life  with  innocent  illu- 
sions.—  Washington  Irving'a  Stratford-upon-Avon* 

"  Stratford-upon-Avon,  fortunate  in  many  things,  is 
especially  fortunate  in  being  situated  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  main  line  of  any  railway.  Two 
railroads  indeed  skirt  the  town,  but  both  are  branches, 
and  travel  upon  them  has  not  yet  become  too  frequent. 
Stratford,  therefore,  still  retains  a  measure  of  its  ancient 
isolation  and  consequently  of  its  quaintness.  Antique 
customs  are  still  prevalent  there,  and  odd  characters 
may  still  be  encountered.  The  current  of  village  gos- 
sip flows  with  incessant  vigor,  and  nothing  happens  in 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     267 

the  place  that  is  not  thoroughly  discussed.  An  event 
so  important  as  the  establishment  of  this  American 
fountain  has,  of  course,  excited  great  interest  through- 
out Warwickshire.  It  would  be  pleasant  to  hear  the 
talk  of  those  old  cronies  who  drift  into  the  bar-parlor 
of  the  Red  Horse  Hotel,  on  a  Saturday  evening, — the 
learned  Guppy,  resting  from  the  labors  of  Her  Majesty's 
Post-office  ;  the  genial  Cole,  fresh  from  his  auctioneer's 
pulpit ;  the  aristocratic  Yet,  whose  visage  so  plainly 
manifests  his  noble  origin  ;  and  Kichard  Savage,  scholar 
and  antiquary, — as  they  comment  on  the  liberal  Amer- 
ican whose  generosity  has  thus  enriched  and  beautified 
their  town.  This  Red  Horse  circle  is  but  one  of  many 
in  which  the  name  of  George  W.  Childs  is  spoken  with 
esteem  and  cherished  with  aflFection.  The  present 
writer  has  made  many  visits  to  Stratford  and  has 
passed  much  time  there,  and  he  has  observed  on  many 
occasions  the  admiration  and  gratitude  of  the  War- 
wickshire people  for  the  American  philanthropist.  la 
the  library  of  Charles  Edward  Flower  at  Avonbank,  in 
the  gardens  of  Edgar  Flower  on  the  Hill,  in  the  lovely 
home  of  Alderman  Bird,  at  the  hospitable  table  of  Sir 
Arthur  Hodgson  in  Clopton  Hall,  and  in  many  other 
representative  places,  he  has  heard  that  name  spoken, 
and  always  with  delight  and  honor.  Time  will  only 
deepen  and  widen  the  loving  respect  with  which  it  is 
hallowed.  In  England,  more  than  anywhere  else  on 
earth,  the  record  of  good  deeds  is  made  permanent,  not 
alone  with  imperishable  symbols,  but  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people.  The  inhabitants  of  Warwickshire,  guard- 
ing and  maintaining  their  Stratford  Fountain,  wnll 
never  forget  by  whom  it  was  given.  Wherever  you 
go  in  the  British  islands  you  find  memorials  of  the 
poet  and  of  individuals  who  have  done  good  in  their 
time,  and  you  find  that  these  memorials  are  respected 


268     The  StndJord-upon-Avon  Fountain. 

and  preserved.  "Warwickshire  abounds  with  them. 
Many  such  memorials  might  be  indicated.  Each  one 
of  them  takes  its  place  in  the  regard,  and  gradually 
becomes  entwined  with  the  experience,  of  the  whole 
community.  So  it  will  be  with  the  Childs  Fountain 
at  Stratford.  The  children  trooping  home  from  school 
will  drink  of  it  and  sport  in  its  shadow,  and  reading 
upon  its  base  the  name  of  its  founder  will  think  with 
pleasure  of  a  good  man's  gift.  It  lies  directly  in  the 
track  of  travel  between  Banbury  and  Birmingham,  and 
many  weary  men  and  horses  will  pause  beside  it  every 
day  for  a  moment  of  rest  and  refreshment.  On  festival 
days  it  will  be  hung  with  garlands,  while  all  around  it 
the  air  is  glad  with  music.  And  often  in  the  long, 
sweet  gloaming  of  the  summer  times  to  come  the  row-er 
on  the  limpid  river  Avon  that  murmurs  by  the  ancient 
town  of  Shakespeare  will  pause  with  suspended  oar  to 
hear  its  silver  chimes.  If  the  founder  of  this  fountain 
had  been  capable  of  a  selfish  thought,  he  could  have 
taken  no  way  better  or  more  certain  than  this  for  the 
perpetuation  of  his  own  name  in  the  affectionate  esteem 
of  one  of  the  loveliest  places  and  one  of  the  most  re- 
fined communities  in  the  world. 

"  All  the  country-side  is  full  of  storied  resorts  and 
cosey  nooks  and  comfortable  inns.  But  neither  now 
nor  hereafter  will  it  be  otherwise  than  grateful  and 
touching  to  such  an  explorer  of  haunted  Warwickshire 
to  see,  among  the  emblems  of  poetry  and  romance 
which  are  its  chief  glory,  this  new  token  of  American 
sentiment  and  friendship,  the  Drinking-Fountain  of 
Stratford,  the  gift  of  George  AV.  Childs." 

I  know  of  no  words  which  have  been 
spoken  to  show  the  reason  for  the  good-will 


The  Stratford-upon-Avon  Fountain.     269 

that  should  forever  be  maintained  by  the 
people  of  England  and  America,  each  for 
the  other,  which  more  clearly  exhibit  it, 
than  those  of  "  Honest  John  Bright,"  who, 
in  the  dark  days  of  the  republic's  stuggle  for 
life,  speaking  in  1864  to  a  great  multitude 
of  his  countrymen  in  the  cit}"  of  London, 
asked  them, — 

"  Can  we  forget  that,  after  all,  we  are  one  nation, 
having  two  governments  ;  that  we  are  the  same  noble 
and  heroic  race  ;  that  half  the  English  family  is  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  in  its  ancient  home,  and  the  other 
half — there  being  no  room  for  them  here — is  settled  on 
the  American  continent?" 

The  spirit  of  the  question  asked  by  the 
Great  Commoner,  and  which  inspired  him 
to  sympathize  with  this  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people,  is 
the  very  sentient  one  which  inspired  Mr. 
Childs  to  erect  on  Avon's  bank  the  fountain 
to  Shakespeare,  and  to  set  up  elsewhere  in 
Enscland's  sacred  shrines  other  fit  memorials 
to  venerable  British  w^orthies,  the  story  of 
which  is  herein  told. 


THE  HERBERT  AND  COWPER  MEMORIAL 
IN  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY. 


That  which  came  next  in  his  love  for  his 
holy  office  to  Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley,  D.D., 
Dean  of  Westminster,  was  the  Abbey,  the 
story  of  which  he  has  so  fully  and  pleasantly 
told  in  his  "  Historical  Memorials."  The 
first  chapter  of  this  scholarly  w^ork,  which 
he  wrought  out  to  so  noble  a  conclusion,  has 
the  following  introduction,  copied  from  a 
contemporaneous  biography  of  Edward  the 
Confessor  in  a  Harleian  manuscript : 

"  The  foundation  of  AYestminster  Abbey.  The  devout 
King  destined  to  God  that  place,  both  for  that  it  was 
near  unto  the  famous  and  wealthy  City  of  London,  and 
also  had  a  pleasant  situation  among  fruitful  fields  lying 
round  it,  with  the  principal  river  running  hard  by, 
bringing  it  from  all  parts  of  the  world  great  variety 
of  wares  and  merchandise  of  all  sorts  to  the  city  ad- 
joining; but  chiefly  for  the  love  of  the  Chief  Apostle, 
whom  he  reverenced  with  a  special  and  singular  aflfec- 
tion." 

271 


272     The  Herbert  and  Cowper  Memorial 

Dean  Stanley  never  spoke  of  the  Abbey- 
save  ^vith  the  tenderest,  most  reverential 
feeling.  He  knew  all  that  could  be  known 
about  it, — its  foundation,  its  growth,  its  leg- 
endary and  historical  origin ;  its  relics,  its 
tombs,  its  shrines,  its  chapels,  its  transepts, 
its  cloisters,  and  its  illustrious  dead.  For 
years  he  had  moved  and  had  his  being 
among  them.  Through  them  he  lived  in 
all  times  of  England's  triumphs  and  defeats. 
To  his  broad  and  all-embracing  mind  there 
was  no  difference  between  the  ashes  lying 
there  of  the  courtly  nobles  of  Charles  I.  and 
those  of  the  rude  Titans  of  the  Common- 
wealth. It  was  this  feeling  which  enabled 
him  to  say,  in  Chapter  lY.  of  his  "  Me- 
morials,"— 

"Of  all  the  characteristics  of  Westminster  Abbey 
that  which  most  endears  it  to  the  nation  and  gives 
most  force  to  its  name — which  has,  more  than  any- 
thing else,  made  it  the  home  of  the  people  of  England 
and  the  most  venerated  fabric  of  the  Enirlish  Church — 

CD 

is  not  so  much  its  glory  as  the  seat  of  the  coronations 
or  as  the  sepulchre  of  the  Kings  ;  not  so  much  its 
school,  or  its  monastery,  or  its  chapter,  or  its  sanctuary, 
as  the  fact  that  it  is  the  resting-place  of  famous  Eng- 
lishmen, from  every  rank  and  creed  and  every  form  of 
mind  and  genius.  It  is  not  only  Ptheims  Cathedral  and 
St.  Denys  both  in  one,  but  it  is  also  what  the  Pan- 
theon was  intended  to  be  to  France — what  the  Valhalla 


in  Westminster  Abbey.  273 

is  to  Germany — what  Sauta  Croce  is  to  Italy.  It  is 
this  aspect  which,  more  than  any  other,  won  for  it  the 
delightful  visits  of  Addison  in  the  '  Spectator,'  of  Steele 
in  the  '  Tatler,'  of  Goldsmith  in  '  The  Citizen  of  the 
World,'  of  Charles  Lamb  in  'Elia,'  of  Washington  Ir- 
ving in  '  The  Sketch-Book.'  It  is  this  which  inspired  the 
saying  of  Nelson, '  a  Peerage — or  Westminster  Abbey  !' 
and  which  has  intertwined  it  with  so  many  eloquent 
passages  of  Macaulay.  It  is  this  Avhich  gives  point 
to  the  allusions  of  recent  statesmen  least  inclined 
to  draw  illustrations  from  ecclesiastical  buildings. 
It  is  this  which  gives  most  promise  of  vitality  to 
the  whole  institution.  Kings  are  no  longer  buried 
within  its  walls ;  even  the  splendor  of  pageants  has 
ceased  to  attract ;  but  the  desire  to  be  interred  in  AYest- 
minster  Abbey  is  still  as  strong  as  ever." 


Xowhere  in  liis  story  of  the  famous  Abbey 
does  the  venerable  Dean  exhibit  so  much 
feeling  in  the  telling  of  it  as  in  that  part 
which  has  to  do  with  the  great  dead  poets 
of  En2:land.  The  historian  lins^ers  Ions;  and 
fondly  in  the  "  Poet's  Corner,"  for,  though 
they  all  lie  not  there,  monuments  are  therein 
erected  to  the  memory  of  Chaucer,  Spenser, 
Shakespeare,  Drayton,  Ben  Jonson,  Ay  ton, 
Davenant,  Cowley,  Dryden,  Milton,  Butler, 
Bowe,  Steele,  Addison,  Congreve,  Prior, 
Gay,  Pope,  Thomson,  and  Gray. 

Dean  Stanley's  cultivated  and  refined 
mind  sympathized  profoundly  with  the  men 

8 


274     The  Herbert  and  Cowper  Mernorial 

of  genius  who,  through  recurring  ages,  have 
by  their  so  potent  art  made  glorious  the  lit- 
erature of  England,  and  probably  with  no 
others  more  than  with  these  two,  among  the 
greatest  and  sweetest  singers  of  them  all, — 
the  Christian  poets,  Herbert  and  Cowper, — 
to  whose  o^enius  there  had  been  no  memorials 
set  up  in  the  Abbey,  though  it  was  long  his 
most  ardent  wish  there  should  be.     Among 
those  to  whom  Dean  Stanley  communicated 
his  desire  was  his  friend,  Mr.   George  W. 
Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  and  with  what  se- 
quence is  thus  briefly  told  by  the  Rev.  Alex- 
ander B.  Grosart,  in  a  note  to  his  complete 
works  of  George  Herbert,  printed  for  private 
circulation  only  :  "  To  the  praise  of  George 
W.  Childs,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  U.S.A.,  be 
it  recorded  that,  on  learning  the  wish  of  the 
Dean  of  Westminster  and  others  to  place  a 
memorial  window  in   our  great  Abbey  in 
honor  of  George  Herbert  and  William  Cow- 
per, as  Westminster  school  boys,  he  spon- 
taneously and  large-heartedly  expressed  his 
readiness  to  furnish  such  a  window  at  his 
own  cost.    The  generous  offer  was  cordially 
accepted." 

Mr.  Childs  was  almost  as  well  known  in 
Enccland  as  in  America.  His  "  House  Beau- 
tiful"  in  Philadelphia  had  long  been  famed 


in  Westminster  Abbey.  275 

as  the  borne  of  the  most  splendid  and  refined 
hospitality  which  had  been  gratefully  enjoyed 
by  many  of  the  most  distinguished  English- 
men visiting  America.  Among  them  was 
the  venerable,  learned,  and  good  Dr.  Stanley, 
Dean  of  Westminster.  In  a  sermon  preached 
in  St.  James's  P.  E.  Church,  Philadelphia, 
on  the  morning  of  September  29, 1878,  the 
Dean,  then  the  guest  of  Mr.  Childs,  said, — 

"  It  has  been  one  happy  characteristic  of  the  Church 
of  England  that  it  has  retained  both  sides  of  the  Chris- 
tian  character  within  its  pale.  There  is  in  Westmin- 
ster Abbey  a  window  dear  to  American  hearts  because 
erected  by  an  honored  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  in  which 
these  two  elements  are  presented  side  by  side.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  sacred  poet  most  cherished  by  the  eccle- 
siastical, royalist,  priest-like  phase  of  the  Church, 
George  Herbert :  on  the  other  hand,  the  sacred  poet 
most  cherished  by  the  puritan,  austere,  lay  phase  of 
the  Church,  William  Cowper.  That  diversity  is  an  ex- 
ample of  the  way  in  which  God's  will  is  wrought  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  I  have  said  that  we  do  not 
speculate  on  the  names  or  natures  of  angels,  yet  as 
symbols  and  outlines  of  the  divine  operations  they  may 
be  most  useful  to  us.  In  the  rabbinical  and  mediaeval 
theology  this  diversity  used  to  be  represented  by  the 
manifold  titles  of  the  various  principalities  and  powers. 
Most  of  these  have  now  dropped  out  of  use;  but  there 
are  some  few  which,  either  from  their  mention  in  the 
l)iblical  or  the  apocryphal  books,  or  from  the  trans- 
figuring hand  of  artistic  or  poetic  genius,  have  sur- 
vived." 


276     The  Herbert  and  Cowper  Memorial 

The  Window  dedicated  to  Herbert  and 
Cowper,  which  has  become  one  of  tlie  con- 
spicuous memorials  of  Westminster  Abbey, 
owes  its  place  there  to  the  strong  and  abid- 
ing love  which  this  great  English  prelate  had 
for  this  country,  and  to  Mr.  Childs's  recog- 
nition of  the  fraternity  of  feeling  which 
nature  has  planted  deep  in  the  hearts  of 
Englishmen  and  Americans. 

In  concluding  an  appreciative  and  grace- 
ful tribute  to  the  character  of  Dean  Stanley, 
then  lately  gone  to  his  reward,  the  Pahlic 
Ledger^  on  the  20th  of  July,  1881,  said, — 

"  He  believed  in  a  national  church,  but  his  Angli- 
canism reached  across  the  water,  and  he  was  fonder  and 
more  apprecnative  of  this  country  than  many  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States.  Freedom  and  reverence,  peace 
born  of  struggle,  and  faith  in  justice  worth  hard  knocks, 
the  charity  that  comes  of  knowledge,  not  of  indifference, 
a  prayer  '  that  we  may  not  be  persecutors,'  a  creed  like 
the  rainbow,  that  spanned  from  the  horizon  to  the  zenith, 
— these  were  the  rich  gifts  of  Stanley's  mind,  and  his 
legacy  to  the  world  are  his  twin  beliefs  in  unswerving 
law  and  all-surrounding  love." 

It  was  out  of  his  love  for  the  people  of 
the  United  States — and  of  his  perception  of 
the  common  bonds  that  bound  and  made 
them  one  with  Englishmen — that  the  Her- 
bert and  Cowper  Memorial  grew.      There 


in  Westminster  Abbey.  277 

was,  at  the  time  the  request  for  the  "Window 
was  made  and  freely  responded  to,  the  same 
thought  in  the  minds  of  both  Dean  Stanley 
and  Mr.  George  W.  Childs, — the  thought 
that,  if  there  were  set  up  in  the  venerable 
Abbey,  tlie  last  resting-place  of  so  many 
eminent  Englishmen,  a  memorial  to  those 
great  worthies,  Herbert  and  Cowper,  by  an 
American  citizen,  who  was  indisputably  a 
representative  of  American  thought  and 
feeling,  it  would  be,  so  long  as  time  spared 
that  ancient  edifice,  a  token  of  the  cordial 
sympathy  existing  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. 

When  in  1867  Sir  Charles  Wentworth 
Dilke  had  finished  the  story  of  his  travels 
through  the  British  Colonies  and  the  United 
States,  he  could  find  no  title  so  fit  for  his 
attractive  work  as  that  of  "  Greater  Britain." 
He  saw,  during  his  protracted  visit  to  this 
country,  only  his  own  country  magnified  in 
area,  population,  wealth,  and  greatness.  He 
found  here  the  same  manners  and  customs 
as  those  of  his  own  land ;  here  he  also  found 
the  same  language,  the  same  political  insti- 
tutions, the  same  literature,  the  same  art,  the 
same  science,  the  same  religion.  He  was 
quick  to  perceive  that  they  of  Old  England 
and  of  New  Enghand,  of  Great  Britain  and 

24 


278     TJie  Herbert  and  Coivper  3Iemo)ial 

the  United  States,  were  one  people  in  their 
love  of  virtue,  freedom,  intelligence,  courage, 
and  in  their  vast,  far-reaching  enterprise. 
The  broad  ocean  separated  them ;  prejudices, 
growing  out  of  misunderstandings,  had  some- 
times caused  them  often  to  look  askance  at 
each  other,  to  regard  each  other  with  distrust. 
But,  despite  all  prejudices  and  misunder- 
standings, they  were  and  are  as  one  in  all 
that  proclaims  the  identity  of  the  same 
people,  though  living  apart. 

This  thought  or  sentiment,  it  need  not  be 
said,  is  not  a  new  one,  but  as  old,  at  least,  in 
the  minds  of  Englishmen  and  Americans  as 
was  the  Mayflower  on  the  day  there  passed 
over  her  side  to  Plymouth  Rock  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers.  But  again,  and  a  thousand  times 
again,  has  it  been  newly  formulated,  and 
most  eloquently,  by  that  learned  and  devout 
scholar,  F.  W.  Farrar,  D.D.,  Archdeacon  of 
Westminster,  in  a  paper  of  great  inter- 
national interest  and  attractiveness  contribu- 
ted by  him  to  Harper^ s  3Iagazine  of  January, 
1888,  which  bears  the  title  of  ''  The  Share 
of  America  in  Westminster  Abbey." 

The  Venerable  Archdeacon,  whose  fame 
for  piety  and  learning  is  as  great  in  this 
country  as  in  his  own,  begins  his  brilliant 
paper  with  the  words  following : 


in  Westminster  Abbey.  279 

"  Westminster  Abbey  is  most  frequently  entered  by 
the  great  northern  door,  usually  known  as  Solomon's 
Porch,  now  in  course  of  a  splendid  restoration,  Avhich 
will  soon  be  completed.  I  will,  however,  ask  the  cour- 
teous American  visitor  to  walk  through  St.  Margaret's 
Church-yard,  and  round  the  western  faqade  of  the 
Abbey,  and  to  enter  by  the  door  under  Sir  Christopher 
Wren's  towers,  opposite  the  memorial  raised  by  West- 
minster scholars  to  their  school-fellows  Avho  died  in  the 
Crimean  war.  Pass  through  the  western  door,  and 
pause  for  a  moment 

*  Where  bubbles  burst,  and  folly's  dancing  foam 
Melts  if  it  cross  the  threshold.' 

Of  all  the  glory  of  this  symbolic  architecture,  of  the 
awe-inspiring  grandeur  and  beauty  of  this  great  min- 
ster, which  makes  us  feel  at  once  that 


■? 


'They  dreamt  not  of  a  perishable  home 
Who  thus  could  build,' 

how  much  may  be  claimed  in  part  by  America? 

"  In  one  sense  all  of  it  w^hich  belongs  to  the  epoch 
which  elapsed  between  the  age  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor and  the  disastrous  days  of  Charles  I.  and  Arch- 
bishop Laud.  An  English  writer  who  lives  in  America 
has  said  that  '  in  signing  away  his  own  empire  George 
III.  did  not  sign  away  the  empire  of  English  liberty, 
of  English  law,  of  English  literature,  of  English  blood, 
of  English  religion,  or  of  the  English  tongue.'  Amer- 
icans enjoy,  no  less  than  we,  the  benefit  of  the  great 
Charter,  the  Petition  of  Right,  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act. 
They  need  not  go  back  for  their  history  to  Indian 
annals  or  Icelandic  sagas.     Theirs  are  the  palaces  of 


280     TJie  Herbert  and  Cowper  Memorial 

the  Phmtagenets,  the  cathedrals  which  enshrine  our 
old  religion,  the  illustrious  Hall  in  which  the  long  line 
of  our  great  judges  reared  by  their  decisions  the  fabric 
of  our  law,  the  gray  colleges  in  which  our  intellect  and 
science  found  their  earliest  home,  the  graves  where  our 
heroes  and  sages  and  poets  sleep.  Indeed,  I  have  under- 
stated their  share  in  the  Abbey.  It  reaches  down  not 
only  to  the  days  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  but  to  the 
War  of  Independence.  Chatham  and  Burke  and  Barr6 
as  well  as  Patrick  Henry  advocated  the  American 
cause,  which  engaged  the  sympathy  of  the  great  mass 
of  Englishmen,  if  not  that  of  Grenville  and  North." 

The  recognition  both  by  Dean  Stanley 
and  by  Mr.  Childs  of  the  truth  of  that  which 
Archdeacon  Farrar  so  eloquently  said  had 
been  previously  demonstrated  by  the  setting 
up  in  the  ancient  Abbey  of  the  Memorial  to 
Herbert  and  Cowper,  of  which,  in  the  above- 
quoted  paper.  Archdeacon  Farrar  says,  after 
referring  to  the  monuments  to  Kingsley  and 
Craggs, — 

"  There  are  two  other  memorials  which  combine  with 
these  to  give  to  this  spot  in  the  Abbey  the  name  of  the 
'Little  Poets'  Corner.'  They  are  the  stained  glass 
Windows  in  memory  of  George  Herbert  and  William 
Cowper.  They  belong  entirely  to  America,  for  they 
are  the  gift  of  an  American  citizen,  my  honored  friend, 
Mr.  George  William  Childs,  of  Philadelphia.  In  the 
stained  glass  are  the  effigies  of  the  two  poets.  Both 
of  them  were  Westminster  boys,  and  the  most  beautiful 
representatives  of  all  that  is  holy  in  two  very  opposite 


in  Wedminster  Abbey.  281 

schools  of  religious  thought.  It  was  a  happy  inspira- 
tion which  suggested  the  erection  of  this  Window. 
George  Herbert  and  William  Cowper  were  well  deserv- 
ing of  Memorials  in  the  Abbey,  apart  from  the  fact 
that  they  had  so  often  played  in  its  cloisters  and 
worshipped  in  its  choir.  The  combination  of  the  two 
suggests  the  higher  unity  which  reconciles  all  minor 
points  of  ecclesiastical  difference." 

HERBERT. 

Gentle  Izaak  Walton  concluded  the  re- 
markable sketch  of  the  life  of  the  pious 
scholar  and  poet,  George  Herbert,  which  is 
one  of  the  noblest  ornaments  of  our  litera- 
ture, in  these  words : 

"  Thus  he  lived,  and  thus  he  died  like  a  saint,  un- 
spotted of  the  world,  full  of  alms-deeds,  full  of  humil- 
ity, and  all  the  examples  of  a  virtuous  life  ;  which  I 
cannot  conclude  better  than  with  this  borrowed  ob- 
servation : 

"  '  All  must  to  their  cold  graves ; 
But  the  religious  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet  in  death,  and  blossom  in  the  dust.' 

"  Mr.  George  Herbert's  have  done  so  to  this,  and 
will  doubtless  do  so  to  succeeding  generations.  I  have 
but  this  to  say  more  of  him,  that  if  Andrew  Melville 
died  before  him,  then  George  Herbert  died  without  an 
enemy.  I  wish  (if  God  be  so  pleased)  that  I  may  be 
80  happy  as  to  die  like  him." 

In  the  estimation  of  those  of  wisest  censure 
there  are  none  of  the  old  English  divines  or 


282     TJie  Herbert  and  Cowper  Memoiial 

sacred  poets  whose  fame  is  more  deserved, 
or  who  are  more  reverenced  by  those  who 
speak  the  hinguage  in  which  the  "  holy 
Herbert"  gave  liis  writings,  in  prose  and 
verse,  to  the  world. 

COWPER. 

On  the  long  roll  of  England's  distinguished 
men  of  letters  there  are  few  names  which 
shine  with  so  strong,  steady,  and  enduring 
a  light  as  that  of  William  Cowper.  There 
has  been  no  lessenius;  of  his  o^reat  fame  with 
the  passing  of  time ;  it  was  long  ago  con- 
ceded that  by  his  poems  he  had  not  only 
raised  "  to  himself  an  imperishable  name," 
but  that  he  had  added  enduring  beauty  to 
the  En  owlish  lano^uaoce.     His  is  a  name  w^hich 

o  o        o 

is  not  only  reverently  cherished  in  the  affec- 
tions, but  which  appeals  to  the  best  thought, 
high  conscience,  and  lofty  sentiment  of  all 
men  of  noble  mind. 

When  Mr.  Childs  undertook  the  fufil- 
ment  of  the  desire  of  his  friend,  the  vener- 
able Dean  of  Westminster,  to  set  up  the 
Memorial  Window  in  the  Abbey  to  Her- 
bert and  Cowper,  the  same  thought  inspired 
them  both, — the  thought  that  if  the  object 
were  accomplished  by  an  American  it  would 
be  accepted  by  every  Englishman  as  a  tribute 


in  Westminster  Abbey.  283 

of  brothers  to  brothers.  The  works  of  these 
sacred  sioijers  live  after  them  in  the  love  and 
admiration  of  all  English-speaking  peoples, 
and  nowhere  more  truly  than  among  the 
people  of  this  broad  land.  The  Window  in 
Westminster,  though  the  munificent  gift  of 
but  one  of  them,  represents  the  common 
reverence  for  the  great  poet  of  all  Ameri- 
cans of  gentle,  pious  feeling,  as  his  songs 
were  sun 2^  for  those  of  all  lands  of  refined 
natures  and  devout  aspirations. 

In  Sunday  at  Home,  a  magazine  of  high 
character,  published  in  London  (in  the  num- 
ber for  June,  1877),  there  appeared,  as  a 
frontispiece,  a  colored  illustration  of  the 
Herbert  and  Cowper  Memorial  Window, 
with  reference  to  which  Dean  Stanley  con- 
tributed the  following  explanatory  note  : 

"  The  southwest  corner  of  the  Abbey — once  the 
Abbot's  private  chapel,  then  the  Baptistery,  and  now 
the  Lay  Clerks'  vestry — was  selected  some  twenty 
years  ago  as  the  place  for  the  erection  of  the  statue 
of  the  poet  Wordsworth,  probably  in  connection  with 
the  font.  Within  the  last  ten  years  the  present  Dean 
resolved  to  make  it  a  second  poet's  corner — chiefly  for 
sacred  poets — in  order  to  relieve  the  great  pressure  on 
the  south  transept. 

"  When  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  with 
truly  American  generosity,  most  generously  complied 
with  my  request  that  he  should  give  a  window  of  stained 


284     TJie  Ilei'bcrt  and  Cowpcr  Memorial 

glass,  it  was  suggested  to  liim  that  it  should  be  placed 
in  this  chapel,  and  commemorate  George  Herbert  and 
William  Cowper, — both  religious  poets,  both  Westmin- 
ster scholars, — and  especially  two  opposite  poles  of  the 
English  Church, — George  Herbert,  the  'ecclesiastical,' 
and  William  Cowper,  the  '  evangelical,'  tendency.     In 
the  Window,  Herbert  is  represented  in  his  clerical  vest- 
ure, standing  by  his  church  porch,  and  the  lines  under- 
neath are  taken  from  the  introduction  to  his  poems,  and 
(in  reference  to  the  Baptistery,  or  the  entrance  to  the 
Abbey)  touch  at  the  start  on  the  Christian  life.    Cowper, 
on  the  other  side,  is  in  his  well-known  cap  and  dressing- 
gown,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Olney,  with  his  hares 
in  the  garden,  looking  at  his  'Mothers  Picture,'  from 
which  poem  are  taken  the  lines  which  are  also  appro- 
priate to  the  associations  of  the  Baptistery.     The  her- 
aldic devices  above  represent  their  respective  families, — 
both,  as  it  happens,  great  in  the  English  aristocracy." 
The  editor  of  Sunday  at  Home  added  to  the  good 
Dean's  note  that  "  it  was  a  happy  thought  of  Dean 
Stanley  to  associate  the  names  in  the  Memorial,  and 
the  gift  of  the  Window  was  a  fitting  and  graceful  trib- 
ute from  an  American  citizen  in  the  Centennial  Year 
of  Independence." 

In  a  private  letter  to  Mr.  Cliilds  written 
by  a  distinguished  man  of  letters  in  England, 
and  referring  to  the  death  of  Dean  Stanley, 
the  writer  said, — 

"  The  good  Dean  valued  your  friendship  deeply,  and 
I  have  often  heard  him  speak  with  enthusiasm  of  your 
affection  for  England  and  the  Abbey,  and  the  munifi- 
cently splendid  way  in  which  you  showed  it.     I  have 


in  Westminster  Abbey.  285 

no  doubt  that  the  recollection  by  you  of  the  truly  kind 
and  genial  reception  which  you  gave  him  in  Philadel- 
phia will  remain  with  you  as  one  of  the  brightest  inci- 
dents of  your  life." 

la  W.  W.  ^N'eviu's  entertainino; ''  Vii>:iiette3 
of  Travel"  there  occurs  this  reference  to  Mr. 
Childs's  i>:ift  to  the  Abbey  : 

"  Passing  from  the  ancient  abbot's  palace,  now  the 
dwelling  of  the  Dean,  by  private  entrance  to  the  church, 
just  before  we  entered  the  transept  of  the  main  build- 
ing, Dean  Stanley,  to  whom  my  presence  started  recol- 
lections of  Philadelphia,  said,  '  Stop  a  moment ;  I  want 
to  show  you  something  that  will  remind  you  of  home,' 
and  ascending  by  a  side  entry  three  narrow  steps,  into 
a  little  chapel  shut  off  by  an  open  railing  from  public 
entrance,  we  stood  suddenly  before  the  handsome  Me- 
morial Window  of  Mr.  Childs  to  the  two  English  poets, 
— a  grand  blaze  of  illumination,  covering  almost  an 
entire  wall  of  the  chapel.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  costly 
work  of  art,  in  the  conventional  ecclesiastical  style  of 
glass-painting,  rich  and  impressive. 

"  It  is  the  usage  of  the  Abbey  to  inscribe  on  all  mon- 
uments the  incidents  of  their  erection,  but  the  story 
of  this  one  is  very  simply  and  frankly  told  in  a  single 
line :  '  D.  D.*  Georgius  Gulielmus  Guilds.  Civis 
Americanus.' 

"This  is  the  first  appearance  of  our  country  in  the 
historic  Abbey.  There  are  a  few  other  American  names, 
— some  Roval  refugees  in  the  War  of  1776-83,  some 
colonial  worthies,  some  British  soldiers  killed  in  the 

*  Donuin  dedit. 


286     The  Herbert  and  Cowpcr  Memorial. 

Revolution  and  French  Wars  ;  but  this  is  the  only 
description  which  distinctly  places  the  new  nation  of 
'  The  United  States  of  America'  in  the  monumental 
archives  of  AVestrainster." 

Mr.  Joel  Cook,  in  his  entertaining  book 
entitled  "  A  Holiday  Tour  in  Europe,"  says, 
regarding  the  gift  of  Mr.  Childs 


i«,- 


"  The  Memorial  Window  erected  bv  Mr.  George  W. 
Childs  is  eagerly  sought  for  by  Americans  visiting 
the  Abbey.  .  .  .  Mr.  Childs's  gift  is  in  two  parts,  or, 
as  it  were,  two  complete  windows,  one  in  memory  of 
Herbert  and  the  other  of  Cowper.  It  is  the  extreme 
western  window  on  the  south  side  of  the  nave,  and  is 
in  the  Baptistery,  somewhat  secluded  on  account  of  the 
high  tombs  standing  in  front  of  it,  and  the  stone  arched 
railing  separates  the  Baptistery  from  the  nave,  but  pour- 
ing a  rich  flood  of  mellow  light  over  them." 


THE  MILTON  WINDOW. 


The  gift  by  Mr.  George  W.  Childs  to  St. 
Margaret's  Church,  "Westminster,  of  the 
Memorial  Window  to  Milton  was  made 
subsequently  to  that  of  the  Fountain,  com- 
memorative of  Shakespeare,  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon,  and  was  inspired  by  a  letter  to 
him  from  his  friend  Archdeacon  Farrar,  in 
which  was  regretfully  recited  the  absence 
of  any  appropriate  memorial  in  Enghand  to 
the  great  Cromwellian  poet,  except  that 
erected  in  1737  by  Auditor  Benson  in  West- 
minster Abbey.  To  this  letter  its  recipient 
at  once  replied  by  offering  to  place  in  St. 
Margaret's  Church,  of  which  the  Venerable 
Doctor  Farrar  is  Rector,  a  window,  the  de- 
sign of  which  should  be  determined  wholly 
by  the  judgment  of  the  latter,  Mr.  Childs's 
only  request  to  his  friend  being  that  he 
should  undertake  the  setting  up  of  a  monu- 
ment which  should  appropriately  commem- 
orate the  virtues  and  genius  of  Milton,  whose 

287 


288  The  Milton  Window. 

works  arc  held  in  as  great  esteem,  and  whose 
memory  is  as  profoundly  reverenced  in  this 
country,  as  in  that  of  his  birth.  The  sug- 
ircstion  which  came  to  Mr.  Childs  was  in 
harmony  with  the  sentiment  which  had  in- 
duced the  presentation  of  the  Memorial  to 
Herbert  and  Cowper  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
and  the  Fountain  at  Stratford-upon-Avon  to 
Shakespeare,  which  were  to  serve  as  a  sign 
of  the  appreciation  in  Americaof  the  genius 
of  the  poets  to  whom  they  were  dedicated, 
and  to  srive  assurance  to  the  w^orld  of  the 

CD 

warmth  of  the  affection  and  tlie  sincerity  of 
the  esteem  existing  in  the  United  States  for 
these  great  masters  of  English  literature, 
who  embellished  and  ennobled  our  common 
language  b}^  their  contributions  to  it. 

''London  and  Westminster,"  says  old 
Hey  wood,  "  are  two  twin-sister  cities,  as 
joined  by  one  street,  so  watered  by  one 
stream;  the  first  a  breeder  of  grave  magis- 
trates; the  second  the  burial-place  of  great 
monarchs."  St.  Margaret's  Church  is  in 
Westminster,  standing  hard  by  the  stately 
Abbev.  The  present  sacred  edifice  indicates 
no  earlier  period  of  its  existence  than  that 
of  the  reign  of  the  Plantagenets;  but  Mr. 
Mackenzie  Walcott  says  of  it :  *'  There  is, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Peter 


The  3niton  Window.  289 

and  St.  PauFo  Cathedral,  no  other  ecclesi- 
astical edifice  throughout  London  and  West- 
minster which  can  boast  of  a  greater  an- 
tiquity, or  more  interesting  foundation,"  the 
original  structure  dating,  it  is  stated,  from 
a  few  years  before  the  Conquest.  One  story 
of  its  origin  is  to  the  effect  that,  "  Ed•^vard, 
the  Confessor,  finding,  as  was  natural,  that 
a  population  was  growing  up  around  the 
Abbey  walls,  and  was  continually  increased 
further  by  a  miscellaneous  crowd  of  persons, 
who,  for  good  or  for  bad  reasons,  sought  the 
shelter  of  the  Sanctuarv,  raised  here  a  church 
in  the  round-arched  Saxon  style,  and  dedi- 
cated it  to  St.  Margaret." 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First  the  edi- 
fice was  almost  wholly  taken  down  and  re- 
built. There  are  some  notable  tombs  in  St. 
Margaret's  Church,  among  others  that  to 
William  Caxton,  "  who,  as  early  as  the  year 
1477,  set  up  a  printing-press  in  the  Abbey ; 
there  is  also  a  mural  tablet  set  up  within 
which  recites  that  Sir  Walter  Kaleigli's  body 
was  buried  here  on  the  day  of  his  execution 
in  Palace  Yard." 

Until  very  recently  the  Speaker  and  the 
House  of  Commons  were  wont  to  attend  at 
St.  Margaret's  Church  upon  the  days  of  what 
were  known  as  the  "  State  Services."     In 

N         t  25 


290  The  Milton  Window. 

1858  these  were,  by  an  order  in  Council, 
stricken  out  of  tlie  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
and  since  then  the  Speaker  has  not  appeared 
in  St.  Margaret's  in  liis  ofiicial  wig  and 
robes. 

In  the  year  1656  John  Milton  was  married 
to  his  second  wife,  Catherine  Woodcock,  in 
St.  Margaret's  Church,  and  there  he  subse- 
quently worshipped. 

It  may  be  proper  to  note  here  that,  as  a 
token  of  the  high  appreciation  of  Mr. 
Childs's  gift  to  St.  Margaret's,  there  has 
been  set  apart  in  perpetuity  in  that  sacred 
temple  a  pew  for  the  exclusive  use  of  Amer- 
icans. 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  1886  that 
Archdeacon  Farrar  originally  referred  to  the 
pitiful  lack  of  imposing  monuments  to  the 
poet  Milton  in  England.  It  was  then  that 
he  wrote  the  following  lines,  with  which  he 
concluded  his  interestins;  article  entitled 
*'  The  Share  of  America  in  Westminster 
Abbey,"  before  referred  to  in  these  pages, 
and  which  were  published  in  Harpefs  3Iaga- 
zine  more  than  a  year  afterwards  : 

"  There  are,  perhaps,  fewer  memorials  of  Milton 
than  of  any  Englishman  of  the  same  transcendent 
greatness.  I  am  extremely  desirous  to  erect  a  worthy 
Window  in  his  honor  in  the  Church  of  St.  Margaret's, 


The  Milton  Window.  291 

close   beside   the  Abbey.     Our  register  contains    the 

record  of  his   marriage  to  Catherine  Woodcock,  his 

second  wife,  in  1656,  and  also  records,  in  the  following 

year,  her  death  and  that  of  her  infant  daughter.     It 

was  to  her  that  he  addressed  the  noble  sonnet  which 

begins — 

'Methought  I  saw  my  late  espoused  saint 

Come  to  me  like  Alcestis  from  the  grave.' 

Milton's  connection  with  the  Church  of  St.  Margaret's 
was  therefore  very  close,  and  if  any  of  his  American 
admirers  are  willing  to  assist  me  in  my  design,  I  shall 
on  public  grounds  most  heartily  welcome  their  munifi- 
cence. They  have  already  beautified  this  fine  old  his- 
toric Church  by  their  splendid  gift  of  a  Window  in 
honor  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  whose  headless  body  lies 
under  the  altar.  Milton  has  even  higher  claims  on 
their  gratitude  and  admiration." 

This,  in  effect,  was  the  text  of  the  letter 
which  was  written  by  the  Venerable  Arch- 
deacon to  Mr.  Childs  in  IsTovember,  1886, 
and  to  which  the  latter  replied  by  offering 
to  contribute  such  a  memorial  as  his  friend 
should  deem  appropriate. 

The  other  letters  which  have  come  into 
the  Editor's  possession  having  reference  to 
the  Milton  Window  are  the  following :  the 
first  is  from  Archdeacon  Farrar  to  Mr.  Childs, 
dated  at  Dean's  Yard,  Westminster,  London, 
February  4,  1887 : 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Cuilds, — I  did  not  write  at  once  to 
express  my  delight  and  heartfelt  gratitude  for  your 


292  The  Milton  Window. 

splendidly  munificent  offer  in  compliance  with  my  sug- 
gestion of  a  Memorial  to  John  Milton,  because  I  wanted 
to  give  you  full  particulars.  I  did  not  say  that  Milton 
liimself  was  buried  at  St.  Margaret's,  but  that  he  was 
married  in  the  Church,  was  closelv  connected  with  it 
through  the  Parliament  (for  it  is  and  always  has  been 
the  Church  of  the  House  of  Commons),  and  that  his 
dearest  wife,  the  one  to  whom  he  wrote  the  immortal 
sonnet  which  begins — 

*  Methought  I  saw  my  late  espoused  saint' — 

was  l)uried  in  the  Church,  as  was  his  child,  wholly 
without  memorial.  The  fact  is  that  no  man  of  his 
pure  and  noble  genius  is  so  wholly  uncomniemorated 
in  England.  There  is  a  poor  bust  to  him  in  the  Abbey  ; 
that  is  all.  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  his 
death  the  Stuart  reaction  against  Puritanism  and  the 
adoration  of  '  King  Charles  the  Martyr'  caused  INIilton's 
name  to  be  execrated.  But  America  is  the  glorious 
child  of  Puritanism  ;  and  it  is  to  me  a  most  touching 
and  significant  fact  that  a  Memorial  to  Milton  in  the 
Church  of  the  House  of  Commons  for  which  he  so 
greatly  labored  should  now  be  given  l)y  a  descendant 
of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  after  I  had  tried  in  vain  to  get 
it  from  Englishmen. 

"  But  I  could  not  write  till  I  was  able  to  inform  you 
what  the  cost  would  be,  nor  shall  I.  formally  accept 
your  generous  offer  until  you  have  been  informed  of 
the  cost  and  character  of  the  proposed  window.  The 
central  compartments  would  illustrate  scenes  in  the 
Life  of  Milton,  the  side  compartments  Avould  contain 
scenes  from  the  '  Paradise  Lost.'  The  Window  would 
be  worthy  of  Milton,  worthy  of  the  church,  and  worthy 
of  your  munificence. 

*'  I  shall  not  set  the  artist  to  work  till  I  receive  your 


The  Milton  Windoio.  293 

sanction  in  another  letter.  If  you  approve,  I  will  have 
a  fine  design  of  the  Window  executed  and  sent  to  you. 
Mr.  J.  R.  Lowell  wrote  the  lines  under  the  Kaleigh 
"Window  in  my  church,  and  Lord  Tennyson  those  under 
the  Caxton  Window.  I  would  get  some  great  poet  to 
write  the  lines  under  the  inscription  which  would 
record,  to  all  future  time,  your  honor  of  the  illustrious 
dead. 

"  I  have  of  course  not  mentioned  the  matter  publicly, 
nor  will  I  do  so  till  I  receive  the  final  notification  of 
your  gift. 

"Most  gratefully  and  sincerely  yours, 

"  F.  W.  Farrar. 

"  P.S. — Immediately  after  writing  this  letter  I  went 
to  read  prayers,  and  the  lesson  was  the  message  to  the 
Angel  of  the  Church  of  Philadelphia." 

The  following  is  Mr.  Childs's  reply  to  the 
foresroiDo:: 

"  Philadelphia^  February  16,  188V. 

"  My  dear  Archdeacon  Farrar, — Your  kind  note  is 
just  received,  and  is  most  satisfactory.  I  have  but  one 
thought  with  regard  to  the  Memorial,  which  is  that  I 
am  particularly  anxious  you  should  write  the  inscrip- 
tion. All  other  matters  I  leave  to  your  taste  and  good 
judgment,  but  this  one  request  I  hope  you  will  grant 
me. 

"  With  cordial  regards,  sincerely  your  friend, 

"  Geo.  W.  Childs." 

Enclosed  in  the  above  letter  from  Mr. 
Childs  was  a  draft  for  an  amount  covorinof 
the  entire  cost  of  the  w^ork. 

25- 


294  The  Milton  Window. 

Writing  to  bis  friend  from  Dean's  Yard, 
Westminster,  London,  on  tlie  5th  day  of 
March  following,  Archdeacon  Farrar  said, — 

"  Mr  DEAR   Mr.   Guilds, — How  can    I   thank   you 

warmly  enout^h  ?     Your  order  for  £ has  reached 

me  safely,  and  the  "Window,  which  will  be  a  very  beau- 
tiful one,  will  be  at  once  proceeded  with.  Before  lonj; 
I  hope  to  send  you  a  painting  of  it  which  will  show 
you  how  very  beautiful  it  is  likely  to  be.  I  need  hardly 
say  that,  as  you  wish  it,  I  will  myself  writg  the  inscrip- 
tion, and,  further,  I  shall  record  that  it  is  the  gift  of 
the  same  noble  munificence  which  has  already  enriched 
AVestminster  Abbey  and  Stratford-upon-Avon. 

■'  I  wish  that  there  were  some  chance  of  your  seeing 
it !  Of  course,  it  will  take  some  months  to  finish,  and 
may  be  you  will  have  to  come  over  to  England  some 
day,  before  or  after  the  Memorial  is  set  up. 

"You  cannot  tell  how  much  I  am  pleased  by  the 
thought  that  one  of  the  greatest,  purest,  and  least  com- 
memorated of  English  poets  should  receive  one  more 
testimony  to  the  immortal  gratitude  which  is  his  due, 
and  that  the  Memorial  to  this  mighty  Puritan  should 
come  from  the  land  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  be 
placed  in  the  Church  of  the  House  of  Commons,  with 
which  he  was  so  closely  connected. 

"  Believe  me  to  be,  dear  Mr.  Childs,  sincerely  and 
gratefully,  your  friend, 

''  F.  W.  Farrar." 

On  the  19th  day  of  the  same  month  Arch- 
deacon Farrar  ao^ain  wrote  to  Mr.  Childs, 
from  Dean's  Yard,  Westminster,  regarding 
the  Window,  as  follows: 


The  Milton  Window.  295 

"  Mv  DEAR  Mr.  CniLDS, —  I  hope,  in  the  course  of 
a  few  weeks,  to  send  you  a  beautifully  painted  copy  of 
the  desijrn  for  the  great  Milton  Window  which  we  owe 
to  your  munificence.  When  the  design  is  completed,  I 
shall  publicly  announce  your  gift  to  the  old  historic 
church.  The  enclosed  outline  will  give  you  a  general 
conception  of  the  mode  of  treatment.  In  the  centre  is 
Milton  dictating  to  his  daughters  the  '  Paradise  Lost ;' 
underneath  is  a  scene  from  his  student-life,  and  his  visit 
to  Galileo.  All  around  are  scenes  from  '  Paradise 
Lost'  and  '  Paradise  Regained.'  Above  are  the  re- 
joicing angels,  and  figures  of  Adam  and  of  our  Lord. 
It  will  be  a  very  beautiful  work  of  art,  and  an  eternal 
monument  to  Milton's  genius  and  your  generosity. 

"Believe  me  to  be,  dear  Mr.  Childs,  sincerely  and 

gratefully  your  friend, 

"F.  W.  Farrar." 

The  gift  of  Mr.  Childs  was  formally  un- 
veiled on  the  eighteenth  day  of  February, 
1888,  an  account  of  which  was  furnished  by 
Archdeacon  Farrar  himself  in  the  following 
letter  to  the  donor  : 

"17  Deax's  Yard,  Westminster,  S.  W., 
"February  18,  1888. 

"My  DEAR  Mr.  Childs, — I  have  just  returned  from 
the  unveiling  of  the  ^Milton  Window.  I  only  invited 
a  select  number  of  friends.  Among  those  present  were 
the  poets  Mr.  Robert  Browning  and  Mr.  Lewis  Morris, 
among  others  Mr.  Lecky,  Mr.  Courtney  Herbert,  Mr. 
and  the  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts,  the  Speaker's  family, 
the  United  States  Minister  and  Mrs.  Phelps,  Professor 
and  Mrs.  Flower,  Lord  Stanley  of  Alderly,  General  Sir 


206  The  Milton  Wlndoio, 

Edward  Stavcley,  and  other  distinguished  personages. 
Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  read  a  very  fine  paper  on  Milton, 
which  is  to  be  published  in  the  Century^  and  which 
will,  I  am  sure,  please  you  very  much.  After  the  paper 
had  been  read  in  the  Vestry  we  went  into  the  Church 
and  unveiled  the  Window.  It  is  very  fine  in  color  and 
execution.  In  the  centre  is  Milton  dictating  to  his 
daughters  the  '  Paradise  Lost ;'  below  is  Milton  as  a  boy 
at  St.  Paul's  school,  and  Milton  visiting  Galileo.  All 
round  are  scenes  from  the  'Paradise  Lost,' — Satan 
awaking  his  legion,  Satan  entering  Paradise,  the  fall, 
and  the  expulsion  from  Eden.  Above  are  four  scenes 
from  the  '  Paradise  Ilegained,' — the  nativity,  the  an- 
nunciation, the  baptism  of  Christ,  and  the  temptation 
in  the  wilderness.  At  the  top  are  jubilant  angels,  and 
Adam  and  our  Lord, — the  first  and  the  second  Adam. 
In  the  course  of  next  week  I  hope  to  send  you  the 
picture  (colored)  of  the  Window.  Underneath  is  the 
inscription : 

'To  the  glory  of  God,  and  in  memory  of  the  Immortal  Poet, 
John  Milton,  whose  wife  and  child  lie  buried  here,  this  Win- 
dow is   dedicated   by  George    W.    Childs,    of    Philadelphia, 

MDCCCLXXXVIII.' 

"  On  the  other  side  are  Mr.  Whittier's  four  fine  lines. 

"  So  that  now,  my  dear  Mr.  Childs,  your  noble  gift 
has  come  to  fruitful  completion,  and  in  the  Church  of 
the  House  of  Commons  will  be  a  lasting  and  beautiful 
Memorial  both  of  the  great  poet  and  of  your  munifi- 
cence. 

"  It  has  carried  out  a  wish  which  I  long  cherished. 
Heartfelt  thanks ! 

"  I  shall  preach  on  Milton  to-morrow,  and  I  shall 
ask  you  to  accept  the  MS.  of  the  sermon.     Pray  give 


The  Milton  Window.  297 

my  kindest  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Childs,  and  believe 
me  to  be, 

"Yours,  very  sincerely  and  gratefully, 

"  F.  W.  Farrar." 

The  selection  of  St.  Margaret's  Church 
was  probably  due  to  the  fact  mentioned  in 
this  letter,  that  Milton's  wife  and  child  are 
buried  there ;  and  what  more  fitting  memo- 
rial could  there  be  than  this  of  him  who  in 
his  "  11  Penseroso"  wrote  of — 

"  Storied  windows  richly  dight 
Castincr  a  dim  religious  lifiht''  ? 

The  following  recognition  of  the  gift  by 
Mr.  Childs  of  the  Milton  Memorial  Window 
is  part  of  the  eloquent  and  learned  address 
delivered  by  tlie  late  Matthew  Arnold  in  St. 
Margaret's  Church,  Westminster,  on  the 
18th  day  of  February,  1888,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  unveiling  of  the  Memorial  Window, 
being  the  same  which  is  referred  to  by  Arch- 
deacon Farrar  in  the  foregoing  letter  to  Mr. 
Childs  : 

"We  have  met  here  to-day  to  witness  the  unveiling 
of  a  gift  in  Milton's  honor,  and  a  gift  bestowed  by  an 
American,  Mr.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  whose  cordial 
hospitality  so  many  Englishmen,  I  myself  among  the 
number,  have  experienced  in  America.  It  was  only 
last  autumn  that  Stratford-upon-Avon  celebrated  the 


298  The  IlUton  Wimlow. 

reception  of  a  <i;ift  from  the  same  generous  donor  in 
honor  of  Shakespeare.  Shakespeare  and  IMilton, — he 
wlio  wishes  to  keep  his  standard  of  excellence  high 
cannot  choose  two  better  objects  of  regard  and  honor. 
And  it  is  an  American  who  has  chosen  them,  and 
whose  beautiful  gift  in  honor  of  one  of  them,  Milton, 
with  Mr.  Whittier's  simple  and  true  lines  inscribed 
upon  it,  is  unveiled  to-day.  Perhaps  this  gift  in  honor 
of  Milton,  of  which  I  am  asked  to  speak,  is,  even  more 
than  the  gift  in  honor  of  Shakespeare,  one  to  suggest 
edifying  reflections  to  us. 

"  Like  Mr.  AVhittier,  I  treat  the  gift  of  Mr.  Childs 
as  a  gift  in  honor  of  Milton,  although  the  Window 
given  is  in  memory  of  the  second  wife,  Catherine 
Woodcock,  the  '  late  espoused  saint'  of  the  famous 
sonnet,  who  died  in  childbed  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year  of  her  marriage  with  Milton,  and  who  lies  buried 
here  with  her  infant.  Milton  is  buried  in  Cripplegate, 
but  he  lived  for  a  good  while  in  this  parish  of  St. 
Margaret's,  Westminster,  and  here  he  composed  part 
of  '  Paradise  Lost,'  and  the  whole  of  '  Paradise  Re- 
gained' and  '  Samson  Agonistes.'  AVhen  death  de- 
prived him  of  the  Catherine  whom  the  new  Window 
commemorates,  Milton  had  still  some  eighteen  years 
to  live,  and  Cromwell,  his  'chief  of  men,'  was  yet 
ruling  England. 

"  The  English  race  overspreads  the  world,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  ideal  of  an  excellence  the  most 
high  and  the  most  rare  abides  a  possession  with  it 
forever." 

The  full  text  of  tins  eloquent  address  was 
published  in  the  Ceiitury  Magazine  for  May, 

1888. 


The  Miltoti  Window.  299 

This  noble  tribute  to  Milton  was  the  last 
work  which  this  learned  and  o-raceful  scholar 
lived  to  do.  A  short  time  after  its  delivery 
Mr.  Arnold  died.  The  following  letter  from 
Archdeacon  Farrar  to  Mr.  Childs  will  be 
found  interestino'  in  its  reference  to  the  final 
literary  effort  of  the  great  scholar  and 
divine : 

"  Athen.eum  Club,  Pall  Mall,  S.  W., 
"May  1,1888. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Childs, — I  felt  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold's 
death  deeply.  He  died  on  a  Sunday,  and  only  the 
Friday  before  he  had  been  talkino-  to  me  here  at  the 
Athenaeum  in  the  very  highest  spirits.  He  had  alluded 
to  the  Milton  Article  (which  has  since  appeared,  a  post- 
humous work).  It  will  be  interesting  to  you  to  know 
that  it  was  called  forth  by  your  noble  gift,  and  that  it 
was  the  last  thing  which  came  from  that  brilliant  intel- 
lect. I  took  part  in  his  funeral  at  the  quiet  little  vil- 
lage church  of  Lateham,  where  we  laid  him  beside  his 
three  boys, — two  of  whom  had  been  my  pupils  at 
Harrow. 

*'  The  Window  is  beautiful.  It  will  be  a  permanent 
and  historic  ornament  to  the  Church,  which  will  noAV 
have  a  record  of  your  generosity  as  well  as  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  only  yesterday  I  was  reading  the  plate 
which  commemorates  your  gift  of  the  Cowper  and 
Herbert  AVindow. 

"  Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

"  F.  W.  Farrar." 

The  Window  is  remarkable  for  its  fulness 
of  detail    and   richness  of  color.     Both  in 


300  The  Milton  Window. 

artistic  design  and  execution  it  is  worthy  of 
high  praise.  It  is  divided  by  its  stone  work 
into  four  lights  with  trncery  openings,  and 
is  of  fifteenth-century  character,  known  as 
the  "  perpendicular"  style,  which  is  that  of 
the  church  generally.  The  design  of  the 
stained  fi^lass  fillins;  the  Window  in  memorv 
of  the  author  of  "  Paradrse  Lost"  is  planned 
on  three  lines  of  panels  in  horizontal  order, 
the  middle  tier  beins;  of  somewhat  larg-er 
depth  than  those  above  and  below  it.  In 
the  two  divisions  of  the  central  portions  of 
the  whole,  four  panels — viz.,  those  of  the 
central  and  lower  tiers  respectively  of  these 
lights — are  devoted  to  the  personal  history 
of  the  poet.  In  one  of  the  bottom  panels 
the  boy  Milton  is  shown  at  St.  Paul's  school 
anion 0^  his  fellow-schoolmates.  In  the  next 
panel  Milton's  visit  to  Galileo  is  depicted. 
Above  these  are  two  of  the  larger  panels 
combined  to  make  one  central  subject  repre- 
senting the  poet  dictating  "  Paradise  Lost" 
to  his  daughters.  Around  these  panels  are 
eight  others  illustrative  of  ''Paradise  Lost" 
and  "Paradise  Retrained." 

In  reference  to  the  former  are  represented 
the  incidents  of:  1.  Satan's  summons  to-his 
legions.  2.  Adam  and  Eve  at  prayer  in. 
Paradise,  Satan  looking  on.     3.  The  temp- 


The  Milton  Window.  301 

tation.  4.  The  expulsion.  In  the  upper 
tier  the  four  panels  are  devoted  to  the  illus- 
tration respectively  of :  1.  The  annunciation. 
2.  The  nativity  of  our  Lord.  3.  T]ie  bap- 
tism of  our  Lord.  4.  The  defeat  of  Satan 
in  his  temptations  of  our  Lord.  Li  the 
tracery  openings  are  jubilant  angels  and  at 
the  apex  of  the  whole  iigures  of  Adam  on 
the  left  and  our  Lord  on  the  right,  repre- 
sentino;  thus  the  first  and  second  Adam  re- 
spectively.  At  the  base  of  the  window  is 
the  following  inscription : 

"To  the  Glory  of  God:  and  in  memory  of  the  im- 
mortal poet,  John  Milton:  whose  wife  and  child  lie 
buried  here :  this  window  is  dedicated  by  George  W. 
Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  mdccclxxxviii." 

Occupying  a  corresponding  space  and 
position  in  the  Window  is  the  following 
fine  verse  thereon  emblazoned,  which  was 
especially  written  for  the  Memorial  by  the 
American  Quaker  poet,  John  Greenleaf 
Whittier,  as  a  tribute  to  his  brother  poet  of 
long  ago : 

"  The  New  AVorld  honors  him  whose  lofty  plea 

For  England's  freedom  made  her  own  more  sure, 
Whose  song,  immortal  as  its  theme,  shall  be 

Their  common  freehold  while  both  worlds  endure." 

26 


302  Tlie  Milton  Window. 

Reirardiiior  these  lines  Mr.  Whittier  wrote 
to  Mr.  Cliilds : 

"  My  dear  Friend, — I  am  glad  to  comply  with  thy 
request  and  that  of  our  friend  Archdeacon  Farrar.  I 
hope  the  lines  may  be  satisfactory.  It  is  difficult  to 
put  all  that  could  be  said  of  Milton  in  four  lines.  How 
very  beautiful  and  noble  thy  benefactions  are !  Every 
one  is  a  testimony  of  peace  and  good-will. 

"  T  am,  with  high  respect  and  esteem,  thy  aged 
friend, 

"John  G.  Whittier. 

"  I  think  even  such  a  scholar  as  Dr.  Farrar  will  not 
object  to  my  use  of  the  word  '  freehold.'  Milton  him- 
self uses  it  in  the  same  way  in  his  prose  writings,  viz. : 

"  '  I  too  have  my  chapter  imdi  freeJiold  of  rejoicing.'  " 

The  rehgious  services  were  the  ordinary 
Lenten  ones,  except  that  the  hymn  pre- 
ceding" the  sermon  was  Milton's — 


o 


"Let  us  with  a  gladsome  mind 
Praise  the  Lord,  for  he  is  kind." 

Canon  Farrar,  who  preached  from  La- 
mentations iv.  7,  further  emphasized  the 
occasion  in  his  opening  remarks.  As  the 
discourse  proceeded  and  the  congregation 
warmed  in  sympathy  with  the  impassioned 
but  well-weighed  elo'quence  of  the  preacher, 
the  gloomy  weather   without   cleared,  and 


The  IMon  Windoiv.  303 

the  wintry  sun  gleamed  through  the  richly- 
staiued  windows  with  which  St.  Alaro^aret's 
is  general!}'  adorned  and  glinted  on  the  Mil- 
ton Memorial,  relieving  the  semi-obscurity 
of  the  interior  and  illuming  the  impressive 
scene  in  which  the  worshippers  mingled 
with  devotion  to  the  Almighty  the  full  meed 
of  admiration  of  Milton's  inspired  genius 
which  the  preacher's  fervency  demanded. 

On  the  Sunday  following  the  unveiling  of 
the  memorial  to  the  poet,  Archdeacon  Farrar, 
in  order  to  give  greater  impressiveness  to  the 
event,  preached  a  special  sermon  in  St.  Mar- 
garet's. The  day  was  bitterly  cold,  the  wind 
blowing  sharply  from  the  northeast,  and  the 
snow  falling  intermittently  during  the  morn- 
ing ;  but,  undeterred  by  the  churlish  weather, 
a  vast  multitude,  including  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  religious,  social,  political,  and 
literary  leaders  of  England,  met  to  listen 
to  the  eloquent  words  of  the  venerable 
Archdeacon.  The  pews  were  all  filled,  and 
chairs  were  placed  in  the  aisles  to  accom- 
modate the  great  concourse  assembled  to 
testify  by  their  presence  their  interest  in 
tlie  impressive  ceremony.  Among  those 
who  were  in  attendance  were  Mr.  Phelps, 
the  American  Minister,  and  his  wife ;  Mat- 
thew Arnold;  the  poet,  Robert  Browning; 


304  The  Milton  Window. 

the  Baroness  Burdctt-Coutts;  the  Eev. 
Phillips  Brooks,  of  Boston;  and  many 
prominent  American  residents  of  London, 
as  well  as  distinguished  representatives  of 
the  nobility. 

In  the  occasional  sermon  preached  by  Dr. 
Farrar,  he  said, — 

"  It  has  been  my  desire  during  twelve  years  to  sur- 
round this  ancient  and  famous  church  with  noble  asso- 
ciations ;  to  revive  the  memories  of  those  great  men  with 
which  it  has  been  connected,  and  thus  to  indicate  the 
relation  in  which  it  stands  to  the  history  of  England. 

"  This  church  may  claim  its  special  interest  in  the 
mighty  name  of  Milton.  That  name  is  recorded  in  our 
marriage  register;  and  here  lies  buried,  with  Milton's 
infant  daughter,  that  beloved  wife — '  my  late  espoused 
saint' — whose  love  flung  one  brief  gleam  of  happiness 
over  the  poet's  troubled  later  years.  Once  more  we  are 
indebted  to  an  American  citizen  for  the  beautiful  Mil- 
ton Window  which  was  yesterday  unveiled.  The  well- 
counselled  munificence  of  Mr.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia, 
who  has  already  enriched  Stratford-upon-Avon  with 
a  memorial  of  Shakespeare,  and  "Westminster  Abbey 
with  the  Window  in  memory  of  Herbert  and  Cowper, 
has  now  erected  this  abiding  memorial  to  the  great 
Puritan  Poet.  Myself  the  debtor  to  American  friends 
for  great  kindness,  I  cannot  but  rejoice  that  the  Church 
of  St.  Margaret's  should  furnish  yet  one  more  illustra- 
tion of  those  bonds  of  common  traditions  and  blood 
and  language  and  affection  which  unite  England  to 
the  great  Republic  of  the  West ;  and  I  am  glad  that 
the  public  spirit  of  the  church-wardens  has  assigned 
from  henceforth  the  use  of  one  special  pew  in  this 


The  Milton  Window.  305 

church  to  our  friends  and  visitors  from  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic. 

"  There  was  somethincr  specially  appropriate  in  the 
Milton  Window  being  the  gift  of  an  American.  For 
the  United  States  represent  much  that  Milton  most 
deeply  loved;  tlie  Commonwealth  which,  happily  fail- 
ing in  England,  in  America  gloriously  succeeded ;  the 
Puritanism  which,  crushed  in  England,  inspired  vigor 
and  nobleness  into  our  kin  beyond  the  sea. 

'•  The  venerable  poet,  Mr.  AYhittier,  who  has  written 
the  lines  for  yonder  window,  most  justly  says, — 

" '  The  New  "World  honors  him  whose  lofty  plea 

For  England's  freedom  made  her  own  more  sure, 
Whose  song,  immortal  as  its  theme,  shall  be 

Their  common  freehold  while  both  worlds  endure.'" 

The  sermon  was  subsequently  published 
in  full  in  The  Churchman,  of  New  York,  with 
the  accompanying  note : 

"St.  Margaret's,  Westminster, 
"  February  19,  1888. 
"  This  manuscript  of  a  sermon  preached  at  St.  Mar- 
garet's, Westminster, — the  Church  of  the  House  of 
Commons, — on  the  occasion  of  the  unveiling  of  the 
Window  in  memory  of  Milton,  presented  to  the  church 
by  George  W.  Childs,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  is  pre- 
sented to  Mr.  Childs,  Avith  grateful  regard,  by 

"  Frederick  AV.  Farrar, 
"  Archdeacon  of  Westminster.'''' 

The  subjoined  editorial  reference  to  the 
Window  was  printed  in  the  same  number 
of  The  Churchman : 

u  26* 


PM  The  Milton  Window. 

"  Under  the  shadow  almost  of  the  northern  transept 
of  Westminster  Abbey  and  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
Westminster  Hall  and  the  Houses  of  Parliament  stands 
a  church  which  is  probably  known  to  every  American 
who  has  visited  London, — the  Church  of  St.  Marfi;aret's. 
Interesting  as  it  is  because  of  its  monuments  and  its 
beino;  the  Church  of  the  House  of  Commons,  it  has 
just  now  gained  an  added  attraction  in  the  Memorial 
Window  to  Milton,  which  has  been  placed  there  by  the 
munificence  of  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia." 

AMERICAN   COxMMENT. 

The  leading  newspapers  of  tlie  United 
States  very  generally  published  interesting 
accounts  by  cable  of  the  dedicatory  cere- 
monies, with  appropriate  comments  there- 
upon. From  the  mass  of  such  accounts  or 
comments  which  were  collected  by  the  Edi- 
tor he  has  selected  the  followino:  onlv,  from 
the  Brooklyn  Eagle  of  February  19,  1888,  as 
susrsrestive  of  the  character  of  them  all : 

"  Yesterday  the  ceremony  of  unveiling  the  Milton 
Memorial  Window  presented  to  St.  Margaret's  Church, 
Westminster,  by  George  W.  Childs,  Esq.,  of  Philadel- 
phia, attracted  one  of  the  largest  congregations  ever 
gathered  within  the  walls  of  the  venerable  edifice. 
Archdeacon  Farrar  preached  the  sermon,  postponing 
his  usual  Lenten  exhortation  and  confining  his  remarks 
to  the  lessons  of  Christianity  as  exemplified  by  the 
noble  life  of  the  great  English  poet  and  moralist.  The 
brief  extracts  communicated  by  cable  indicate  that  the 


The  Milton  Windoiv.  307 

effort  was  worthy  of  the  speaker  and  the  occasion.  He 
confessed  the  satisfaction  it  gave  him  that  the  Church 
of  St.  Margaret's  should  furnish  another  illustration 
of  those  bonds  of  common  blood,  traditions,  language, 
and  affection  which  unite  the  mother-country  with  her 
marvellous  offspring,  the  giant  Republic  of  the  AV'est, 
and  alluded  to  the  peculiar  fitness  of  the  honor  done 
by  an  American  to  the  memory  of  one  who  represented 
much  that  was  most  deeply  loved  in  the  Commonwealth, 
which,  failing  in  England,  inspired  vigor  and  nobleness 
in  the  Commonwealth  to  which  it  gave  birth  beyond 
the  sea. 

"Need  it  be  said  that  the  countrymen  of  Mr.  Childs 
participate  with  him  in  the  reciprocation  of  the  feeling 
which  inspired  these  utterances  of  Archdeacon  Farrar? 
The  motive  that  prompted  the  Philadelphia  philanthro- 
pist is  a  motive  which  challenges  the  approval  and 
sympathy  of  every  enlightened  xVmerican.  There  is, 
in  his  gift  of  the  Milton  Window,  a  teaching  larger 
than  that  of  any  sect,  class,  or  faction.  It  has  even  a 
nobler  sis-nificance  than  that  to  which  the  archdeacon 
adverted.  It  means  more  than  a  recognition  of  the  ties 
that  unite  the  two  leading  nations  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race.  It  is  an  expression  of  the  veneration  which  fills 
every  elevated  mind  for  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
examples  in  the  history  of  genius  and  virtue.  In  con- 
ceiving this  honor  to  the  memory  of  Milton,  Mr.  Childs 
revealed  not  only  the  benevolence  of  his  nature,  but 
his  appreciation  of  the  truly  great  and  good.  Like  his 
Shakespeare  Memorial  and  the  beautiful  AVindows  in 
the  ancient  Abbey  that  recall  the  genius  of  Herbert 
and  Cowper,  it  bespeaks  the  lofty  ideals  not  less  than 
the  kindly  impulses  of  the  donor. 

"Of  the  author  of  '  Paradise  Lost,'  it  has  been  said 
that  he  is  withdrawn  from  the  ordinary  world  as  an 


308  The  Milton  Window. 

Alp  is  witlidrawn, — by  vastness,  by  solitariness  of 
snows,  and  by  commerce  with  heaven.  Mr.  Childs  has 
shown  that  the  ordinary  world  may  venture  to  invade 
this  isolation  and  to  mitigate  the  grandeur  of  the  poet's 
solitude  by  the  proofs  that  his  genius  cannot  thus 
divorce  him  from  the  great  heart  of  humanity.  If  the 
sublimity  of  his  intellect  and  the  austerity  of  his  morals 
lift  him  far  above  his  kind,  the  pathos  of  his  life  and 
those  passages  in  which  he  confesses  his  heritage  of 
weakness  and  sorrow,  make  him  our  brother  and  equal. 
Wisely  has  Mr.  Childs  chosen  this  last  object  of  his 
generosity  and  munificence.  Fittingly  have  the  Eng- 
lish people,  speaking  by  the  tongue  of  Archdeacon 
Farrar,  accepted  the  offering  as  at  once  a  tribute  to  the 
mighty  dead  and  as  a  pledge  of  the  fraternity  of  the 
race  that  boasts  his  ashes  as  a  consecrated  legacy." 


THE  REREDOS  OF  ST.  THOMAS'S  CHURCH, 

WINCHESTER. 


Among  the  shifts  which  Mr.  Childs  has 
made  to  Eno^land  is  that  of  the  Reredos 
which  is  no^Y  one  of  the  most  striking 
adornments  of  St.  Tliomas's  Church,  Win- 
chester. 

The  inception  of  this  gift  is  to  be  found 
in  a  letter  written  October  11,  1887,  to  Mr. 
Childs  by  his  friend,  the  Reverend  Arthur 
B.  Sole,  Rector  of  St.  Thomas's  Church. 

Referring  to  the  Herbert  and  Cowper 
Memorial  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  to 
the  Shakespeare  Fountain  at  Stratford,  Mr. 
Sole  said, — 

"  Now  that  you  have  shown  the  midland  counties  and 
the  metropolis  an  American  citizen's  appreciation  of 
England's  great  poets,  you  must  not  leave  out  in  the 
cold  the  ancient  city  of  the  country,  Winchester,  the 
one  centre  to  which  every  American  is  attracted. 

"  Could  you  not  give  us  a  monument  or  memorial  to 
Bishop  Ken,  who  lived  close  under  the  shadow  of  St. 

309 


310     The  Ilcrcdos  of  St.  IViomas^s  Church. 

Thomas's  old  Cliurcli  ?  We  sorely  need  a  new  Reredos, 
and,  coming  from  a  well-known  citizen  of  that  Greater 
Britain  beyond  the  sea,  the  gift  would  be  highly  esteemed 
by  Englishmen." 

AVitli  this  request  Mr.  Childs  complied 
with  characteristic  generosity. 

On  December  6,  1887,  the  liev.  Mr.  Sole 
wrote  to  his  friend  : 

"  We  feel  very  grateful  to  you  for  your  ready  com- 
pliance with  my  request,  and  for  choosing  our  Church 
us  the  recipient  of  your  gift  which  shall  show  respect 
and  veneration  for  the  good  Bishop  Ken.  The  church 
is  a  very  noble  one,  and  the  largest  in  Winchester,  so 
that  it  is  fittini;  his  monument  shall  be  in  it. 

"  It  has  been  suggested  that  you  might  like  to  have 
good  Bishop  Andrewes's  name  connected  with  Bishop 
Ken's  in  the  work,  since  he  was  very  often  with  us  in 
Winchester,  and  the  Church  of  the  seventeenth  century 
owes  much  to  him." 

A  year  later,  December  28, 1888,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Sole  communicated  with  Mr.  Childs, 
saying,— 

*'  The  following  resolution  was  passed  at  a  special 
and  influential  Vestry  that  was  called  last  week  to  dis- 
cuss the  Reredos : 

" '  Parish  of  St.  TnoifAS  and  St.  Clement, 
"Winchester. 
"  '  At  a  Vestry  meeting  held  according  to  due  notice 
on  Thursday,  the  20th  day  of  December,  1888,  to  con- 


The  Beredos  of  St.  Thomases  Church,       311 

aider  the  subject  of  the  gift  of  a  Reredos  to  the  Church 
bj  an  American  citizen,  and  to  record  a  vote  of  thanks 
to  the  donor^ — 

"  *  Proposed  by  Captain  Budden,  and  seconded  by 
Mr.  Alfred  King,  that  this  meeting  of  the  Rector, 
Church-wardens,  and  parishioners  in  Yestrj  assembled, 
do  hereby  offer  to  George  William  Childs,  Esquire,  of 
Philadelphia,  U.S.A.,  their  most  cordial  thanks  for  his 
very  handsome  gift  towards  the  beautifying  of  their 
parish  Church,  and  to  which  they  would  beg  to  add  the 
hope  that,  should  Mr.  Childs  ever  visit  England,  they 
may  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  in  Winchester, 
and  thanking  him  in  person  for  the  kindly  interest  he 
has  shown  in  this  ancient  city  and  parish  of  the  old 
mother-country. 

"  '  Alfred  King, 

"  'J.  A.  MoRRAH  (Colonel), 

"  '  Church-  Wardens. 
"  '  Arthur  D.  Sole,  Sector.^  " 


On  February  15,  1889,  the  Rector  of  St. 
iomas 
morial : 


Thomas's  ao^aiu  wrote   reo-arcling:   the  Me 


"  The  Reredos  is  growing  rapidly,  and  will  be  un- 
veiled at  4.30  on  Friday  afternoon,  March  1,  by  the  Very 
Reverend  the  Dean  of  Worcester. 

"He  is  a  most  eloquent  preacher,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  will  say  some  helpful  words  concerning  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  the  erection  is  made,  and  your 
very  sympathetic  kindness  and  good-will  toward  the  old 
city  of  your  fathers. 

The  inscription  I  have  not  yet  prepared.     I  have 


((  T 


312     TIlc  Reredos  of  St.  Thomases  Church, 

•waited  to  take  counsel  with  the  Bishop.     I  should  like 
it  to  take  such  a  form  as  this : 

"  '  To  the  glory  of  God,  this  Reredos  has  been  erected  by 
George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  U.S.A.,  and  to  record  the 
undying  esteem  that  is  shared  by  the  Church  of  the  New  World, 
reciprocally  with  the  ancient  city  of  Winchester,  in  the  saintly 
lives  of  two  of  her  sons  and  citizens,  Bishop  Andrewes  and 
Bishop  Ken.' 

"  The  Reredos  was  unveiled  last  Friday  before  a  large 
concourse  of  worshippers.  It  looked  very  beautiful, 
and  was  spoken  of  by  many  as  a  munificent  gift  of  love 
from  you." 

AN   ACCOUNT   OF   THE   DEDICATION. 

Under  the  caption  of  "  The  'New  Reredos 
at  St.  Thomas's,  Winchester,"  the  Hampshire 
Gazette,  in  its  issue  of  March  2, 1889,  of  that 
ancient  metropolis  said, — 

"An  interesting  and  historical  Reredos  has  been 
placed  in  the  Church  of  Sts.  Thomas  and  Clement, 
Winchester,  under  unusually  pleasing  circumstances, 
connecting  Old  and  New  England.  A  friend  of  the 
Rector's  (the  Rev.  A.  B.  Sole),  Mr.  Childs,  of  Phila- 
delphia, presented  him  with  a  check  to  defray  the 
cost  of  a  Reredos  to  commemorate  Bishops  Lancelot 
Andrewes  and  Ken,  prelates  certainly  of  saintly  re- 
nown, whose  names  and  fame  are  revered  wherever 
Enflishmen  are,  for  both  were  stanch  Churchmen: 
both  have  left  writings  which  are  yet  prized  as  manuals 
of  devotion  and  aids  to  religion  ;  and  both  have  an  his- 
toric interest,  for  Andrewes  administered  the  Diocese 
of  Canterbury  whilst  the  Primate  from  an  accident  to 


The  Reredos  of  St.  Thomas's  Church.     313 

his  keeper  was  held  to  be  incapacitated,  and  Ken  was 
one  of  the  '  Seven  Bishops.'  Both  are  to  be  remem- 
bered for  their  learning,  and  Ken  especially  to  be 
honored  for  his  firmness  of  purpose  against  William 
III.  (when  Prince  of  Orange),  Charles  II.,  and  James, 
when  he  considered  morality  and  honor  were  jeopard- 
ized. The  Reredos  is  a  very  handsome  work,  although 
it  includes  the  arcade  of  the  former  one,  which  consisted 
of  panels  with  the  Commandments,  etc.  These  are 
now  removed  to  another  place  close  by,  and  the  span- 
drils  of  the  arches  have  been  carved  with  conventional 
foliage  and  fruit,  and  an  angel  in  the  north  and  south 
spandrils.  Above  this  arcade  is  another  of  five  panels, 
forming,  with  its  cornice  and  cross,  a  pediment  or  finish 
to  the  Reredos.  The  cross,  with  the  Agnus  Dei  painted 
in  colors,  surmounts  the  whole,  and  the  hand-mould- 
ings and  other  ornaments  of  the  shafts  of  the  panels 
are  in  the  best  style  of  work.  In  the  panels  are  fixed 
as  many  paintings  by  ladies  of  Winchester.  In  the 
centre  is  Christ  ascending  and  blessing ;  on  either  side 
are  angels  with  the  chalice  and  'golden  crown;'  and 
on  the  outer  panels  are,  on  the  south.  Saints  Thomas, 
the  apostle,  and  Clement,  the  third  Bishop  of  Rome, 
martyred  in  the  time  of  Trajan,  each  with  emblems, — 
the  spear  and  the  anchor  ;  in  the  north  are  representa- 
tions of  Andrewes  standing  with  his  pastoral  staff,  and 
Ken  kneeling,  both  vested  in  Reformation  robes,  and 
w^ith  mitres  at  their  feet.  The  pastoral  staff  indicates 
that  Andrewes  died  in  office,  whereas  Ken,  from  scru- 
ples of  conscience,  died  out  of  office,  being  a  non-juror. 
Close  to  this  panel  is  another  in  the  wall  over  the 
credence-table,  which  bears,  under  a  cross-surmounted 
globe  delineating  England  and  America,  the  following 
w^ords, — ^  Stat  Crux  dum  evolvit  orhis,^  followed  by  this 

inscription  : 

o  27 


314     The  Reredos  of  St.  Thomases  Church. 

"  *  In  token  of  the  unity  of  spirit  and  bond  of  peace  between 
the  Churches  of  the  Old  and  New  World,  this  Reredos  is  dcili- 
cated  by  George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  to  the  memory  of 
two  Bishops  of  the  Chureli  universal,  both  connected  with  this 
Cathedral  city — Bishop  Lancelot  Andrewes  and  Bishop  Ken. — 

MDCCCLXXXIX.' 

w 

'•The  Reredos  was  unveiled  yesterday  (St.  David's 
Day),  at  Choral  Evensonfi;.  There  was  a  numerous 
congregation.  The  service  opened  with  the  Old  Hun- 
dredth Psalm.  The  anthem  was  '  IIow  amiable  are 
Thy  tabernacles,'  and  it  was  well  sung  by  the  choir. 
The  hymn  before  the  sermon  was  '  We  love  the  place, 
0  God.'  The  preacher  was  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Gott, 
Dean  of  Worcester,  who  chose  for  his  text  the  words 
'  From  strength  to  strength,'  from  the  seventh  verse  of 
the  Eighty-fourth  Psalm.  In  the  course  of  an  eloquent 
sermon  he  said  they  Avere  met  together  that  afternoon 
to  worship  God,  not  only  in  spirit  but  in  truth,  and  to 
give  a  blessing  in  God's  name  to  the  new  addition  to  the 
altar  which  graced  their  church,  and  indicated  their 
devotion.  Concluding,  he  asked  what  was  the  strength 
added  to  their  Church  since  the  days  of  Ken?  He  did 
not  think  he  could  put  it  in  words, — he  could  not  hold 
the  world  in  his  hands,  he  could  not  express  the  mighty 
strength  which  had  come  over  the  Church  of  God  from 
those  days  till  now  !  How  wide  the  Church  had  spread, 
how  fertile  had  been  her  daughter  Churches  within 
the  last  century,  how  rich  she  was  in  founding  new 
branches  of  the  old  Church,  how  strong  in  infusing  the 
spirit  of  the  one  true  religion — the  religion  of  Christ 
— into  the  old  religions  of  the  East!  How  wonderful 
had  been  the  strength  of  the  Church  in  the  country  of 
the  donor  who  sent  the  offering  to  the  city  whence  these 
two  saintly  men  came !     Were  tliey  personally  going 


The  Reredos  of  St.  Thomas's  Church.     315 

from  strens^th  to  strength  ?  As  years  passed  over  them, 
and  as  the  troubles — perhaps  the  pleasures — of  life 
thickened  around  them,  were  they  going  from  strength 
to  strength?  Let  the  faith  be  handed  on  pure  and 
untarnished  to  their  children,  and  their  children's 
children,  until  at  last  they  appeared  before  Him  who 
was  their  Almighty  strength,  and  more  than  conquer- 
ors received  from  Ilim  the  power  which  Eternity  would 
bring.  The  hymn  '  Lift  the  strain  of  high  thanks- 
giving'  was  sung  during  the  offertory." 

The  Story  of  ^Ir.  Childs's  Memorials  to 
some  of  the  noblest  of  Old  England's  wor- 
thies, which  is  here  brought  to  an  end,  has 
grown  under  the  hands  of  the  Editor,  despite 
his  efforts  to  keep  it  within  more  modest 
limits.  But  lono^  as  it  is,  he  induls^es.  at 
least,  the  hope  that  it  will  be  found  inter- 
esting: to  those  who  ao:ree  with  him  that  it  is 
permitted  to  no  one  to  do  better  work  in 
this  world  than  that  of  fostering  fraternal 
feeling  between  peoples  who  are  akin,  but 
who  are  separated  by  the  broad  ocean,  and 
who  have  been  sometimes  estranged  by  mis- 
understandings, conflicting  interests,  or  un- 
toward circumstances.  This  is  the  work 
which  ]Mr.  Childs  appears  to  the  Editor  to 
have  had  a  mind  to  do  in  the  makins:  of 
every  one  of  those  gifts  to  our  cousins  across 
the  sea  with  whom  Americans  can  claim 
even  a  closer  degree  of  consanguinity  than 


31 G     The  Rcredos  of  St.  Thomases  Church, 

that  of  cousins! lip, — their  just  claim  is  that 
of  Common  Brotherliood. 

Tlie  sacred  poets,  Herbert  and  Cowper; 
Milton,  the  sublime  singer  of  the  Cromwell- 
ian  epoch;  and  Shakespeare,  whose  genius 
illuminates  the  present  not  less  effulgently 
than  it  glorified  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  spoke 
in  no  strange  tongue,  but  in  our  very  own, 
— in  that  of  our  mother-country.  In  these 
great  masters  of  the  English  language,  in 
their  work  and  their  fame,  Americans  have 
also  their  full  share  and  part,  and  whoso 
giveth  recognition  to  that  which  they  did 
and  reverence  to  their  memories  in  noble, 
impressive  monuments  does  that  which 
strengthens  the  feeling  of  fraternity  which 
nature  itself  demands  should  exist  between 
the  two  countries.  This,  as  it  seems  to  the 
Editor,  is  what  Mr.  Childs  has  done,  and 
for  doing  which  he  deserves  the  sincerest 
respect  and  the  warmest  gratitude  of  Eng- 
land and  America. 


MR.   CHILDS 


AND    THE 


WORKINQMAN 


BY 


RICHARD   T.  ELY,  Ph.D., 

ASSOCIATE   IN   POLITICAL   ECONOMY,  JOHNS    HOPKINS 
UNIVERSITY,  BALTIMORE. 


27*  317 


GEORGE  W.  CHILDS 


IN    HIS 


RELATIONS  TO  HIS  EMPLOYEES. 


It  is  with  sincere  pleasure  that  I  accept 
the  invitation  which  has  been  extended  to 
me  by  Mr.  Phillips,  the  editor,  to  contribute 
a  few  pages  to  the  present  volume  on  the 
relations  of  Mr.  Childs  to  his  employees.  I 
shall  do  something  more  than  this,  because 
in  treating  these  relations  I  almost  of  ne- 
cessity touch  upon  his  relations  to  the  labor 
movement  in  general.  It  was,  in  fact,  while 
writing  my  work  on  "  The  Labor  Movement 
in  America"  that  I  first  came  to  know  the 
affectionate  nature  of  the  relations  existino- 
between  Mr.  Childs  and  his  employees. 

It  occurs  frequently  that  an  industrial 
leader  makes  himself  an  object  of  love  and 
admiration  to  his  own  employees,  although 
even  this  does  not  happen  so  often  as  one 

319 


o 


20  Geovfje  W.  Childs  in  his 


could  desire.  Mr.  Childs  has,  however,  done 
far  more  than  this.  lie  has  made  himself 
beloved  by  an  entire  craft — namely,  that  to 
which  the  most  of  those  employed  upon  his 
great  newspaper,  the  Public  Ledger,  belong, 
the  compositors  —  throughout  the  United 
States.  The  reader  may  travel  south  to 
Texas,  north  to  Minnesota,  east  to  Maine, 
or  west  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  and 
wherever  he  mentions  the  name  of  Mr. 
Childs  he  touches  a  warm  spot  in  the  heart 
of  the  compositor.  I  was  studying  the  labor 
question  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  a  few  years 
ago,  when  I  happened  to  mention  the  name 
of  Mr.  Childs  to  the  president  of  the  local 
organization  of  compositors.  "  Oh,  sir,"  said 
he,  as  his  face  brightened  with  loving  grati- 
tude, *'  if  all  employers  were  like  Mr.  George 
W.  Childs  there  would  be  no  labor  ques- 
tion." Similar  expressions  are  often  heard 
at  gatherings  of  printers  everywhere. 

The  following  words  are  taken  from  an 
address  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  a  ban- 
quet, by  one  of  the  employees  in  the  Ledger 
office,  and  will  bring  to  the  reader  some  idea 
of  their  appreciation  of  the  character  of 
their  benefactor :  "  My  recollection  of  the 
gentleman  who  is  being  honored  by  this 
banquet  dates  back  to  boyhood.     To  use  a 


Relations  to  his  Employees.  321 

quoted  expression,  Mr.  Chilcls  is  '  an  Israelite 
without  o^uile.'  The  thin  or  in  him  that  is 
plainest  to  me  is  that  there  is  less  of  evil  in 
him  than  in  any  man  I  ever  knew.  ISTo 
one  can  say  that  he  went  to  him  with  a  tale 
of  true  sorrow  and  went  away  empty-handed. 
lie  overlooks  our  shortcomings  in  the  Ledger 
office,  and  many  of  us  have  done  that  which 
might  be  cause  for  dismissal  from  other 
establishments.  But  we  are  all  there,  still 
at  work,  because  he  could  not  frame  his 
lips  to  say  the  word  that  would  cause  our 
departure." 

At  this  banquet  a  letter  was  read  from 
a  Boston  printer,  in  which  these  words 
occur :  "  To  George  W.  Childs,  more  than 
to  any  other  man  living,  are  we  indebted  for 
the  present  era  of  good  feeling  existing  be- 
tween employers  and  members  of  our  craft, 
which  has  taken  the  place  of  the  antagonistic 
spirit  of  former  years." 

And  it  was  but  a  few  days  since  that  I 
received  a  letter  from  a  Washinsfton  com- 
positor,  in  which  Mr.  Childs  was  alluded  to 
as  "  the  Patron  Saint  of  the  printers." 

Here  we  have  testimonies  from  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  Washington,  and  Richmond, 
and  they  might  without  trouble  be  gathered 
from  every  quarter.    Is  not  this  remarkable  ? 


322  George  W.  Childs  in  his 

The  newspapers  are  full  of  bitter  quarrels 
between  employers  and  emplo3'e(l,  and  bere 
is  a  man  who  bus  estal)lislied  sueb  wbolly 
satisfactory  relations  between  bimself  and 
bis  employees  that  an  entire  craft  look  upon 
him  with  enthusiastic  admiration,  and  re- 
gard him  as  an  ideal  character.  Surely  it  is 
worth  while  to  reflect  for  a  few  moments  on 
these  relations;  surely  it  is  worth  while  that 
the  facts  should  be  pul)lished  to  the  world, 
as  an  incitement  to  others  to  "  2:0  and  do 
likewise." 

Mr.  Childs  is  called  a  philanthropist,  and 
no  man  can  have  a  nobler  title.  One  who 
is  a  lover  of  his  kind  partakes  in  so  far  of 
the  divine  nature.  God  is  love,  and  Christ, 
who  came  to  manifest  to  us  the  love  of  God, 
said  that  the  second  of  the  two  great  com- 
mandments, which  bids  us  to  love  our  fel- 
lows, was  of  the  same  nature  as  the  first, 
which  bids  us  to  love  God.  Moreover,  when 
men  professed  to  love  God,  Christ  and  the 
apostles  always  put  their  professions  to  the 
proof  in  testing  this  love  for  their  fellow- 
men.  'No  one  can  be  a  Christian  without  at 
the  same  time  being  a  philanthropist. 

While  all  this  is  true,  the  word  philan- 
thropist does  not  alwaj's  convey  to  us  such 
impressions  of  exalted  goodness  as  it  should. 


Relations  to  his  Employees.  323 

One  reason  is,  doubtless,  that  we  are  not 
sufficiently  Christian  ourselves  to  appreciate 
philanthropy  at  its  value;  and  another  is  that 
there  is  in  this  world  much  more  spurious 
than  genuine  philanthropj'.  Mere  giving  is 
not  philanthropy.  A  man  may  give  millions 
of  dollars  in  alms,  and  yet  be  a  contemptible 
fellow.  St.  Paul  tells  us,  indeed,  that  a  man 
may  give  his  body  to  be  burned,  but  that 
without  love  this  is  nothing.  Philanthropy 
is  first  of  all  a  state  of  the  heart, — a  loving 
heart, — and,  when  it  is  giving,  it  is  loving 
giving  directed  by  intelligence :  all  of  the 
giver's  powers  are  placed  at  the  service  of 
his  fellows. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Love  is  not  weakness. 
Love  is  o^entle  firmness  and  at  times  is  even 
severity.  Charles  Kingsley,  indeed,  has  said 
that  there  is  no  severity  so  terrible  as  the 
severitv  of  love. 

Georo:e  Eliot  is  celebrated  for  her  insis-ht 
into  character,  and  in  one  of  her  letters  I 
find  these  words  :  "  I  prefer  a  country  where 
I  don't  make  bad  blood  by  having  to  see  one 
public  house  to  every  six  dwellings, — which 
is  literally  the  case  in  many  spots  around  us. 
My  gall  rises  at  the  rich  brewers  in  Parlia- 
ment and  out  of  it,  who  plant  these  poison- 
shops  for  their  million-making  trade,  while 


324  Gcovfje  W.  Ch'ilds  in  Juh 

probably  their  families  are  figuring  some- 
where as  refined  philanthropists  or  devout 
Evangelicals  and  Kitualists." 

We  must  go  back  of  the  giving  and  know 
something  about  methods  of  acquisition  be- 
fore we  can  pass  judgment  on  the  giver. 
Thieves,  pirates,  gamblers,  have  often  been 
generous,  as  is  well  known,  but  no  one  would 
think  of  calling  them  on  that  account  phi- 
lanthropists. It  is  quite  as  improper  to  call 
a  generous  railroad-wrecker  a  philanthropist, 
or  any  one  who,  even  in  conformity  with 
legal  forms,  coaxes  other  people's  money 
into  his  pockets  without  a  fair  equivalent. 

The  recipients  of  Mr.  Childs's  bounty  may 
enjoy  it  without  any  feelings  of  compunction, 
as  thev  well  know  that  his  fortune  has  been 
honestly  gained  in  a  legitimate  business  con- 
ducted according  to  high  principles.  It  is 
a  source  of  proper  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Childs 
to  be  able  to  say  of  the  Public  Ledger,  "  This 
propert}^  was  built  up  without  breaking 
other  people  down." 

When  Mr.  Childs  acquired  the  Public 
Ledger  in  1864,  he  made  a  distinction  in 
the  manao;ement  of  his  business  which  too 
many  overlook,  although  it  is  fundamental. 
"  Meanness,"  said  he,  "  is  not  necessary  to 
success  in  business,  but  economy  is." 


Relations  to  his  Employees.  325 

As  early  as  1867  ^Ir.  Childs  had  acquired 
a  reputation  as  ''  a  just  and  liberal  employer, 
and  a  kind-hearted,  charitable  man,"  and 
had  been  made  an  honorary  member  of  "  the 
Philadelphia  Typographical  Society."  This 
society  was  in  the  following  year  the  recipi- 
ent of  a  lar2:e  and  valuable  tract  of  orround 
in  Woodlands  Cemetery,  near  Philadelphia, 
which  was  beautifully  enclosed  and  orna- 
mented, and  which  has  since  been  known 
as  "  The  Printers'  Cemetery."  The  ex- 
penses connected  with  its  maintenance  have 
been  met  by  the  donor  for  over  twenty  years. 

The  good  deeds  of  Mr.  Childs,  which  are 
unknown  to  any  one  but  himself,  are  so 
numerous  that  thev  could  not  be  described 
in  a  brief  sketch.  I  have  in  mind  onl  v  those 
which  are  known  ;  but  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  a  larger  proportion  of  them 
never  become  known,  although  aifection 
prompts  many  to  let  the  world  know  what 
he  has  quietly  and  unostentatiously  done  for 
them.  The  individual  cases  of  distress  re- 
lieved by  him  are  simply  innumerable,  and 
among  those  relieved  are  naturally  many 
present  or  past  employees :  but  now  we  are 
concerned  chieflv  with  his  resjular  relations 
with  his  employees.  One  form  which  his 
beneficence  takes  is  to  place  insurance  on 

28 


326  George  W.  Childs  in  his 

their  lives,  which  in  case  of  death  will  pro- 
vide for  those  who  are  dependent  on  them. 
Another  form  of  Mr.  Childs's  philanthropy 
is  seen  in  his  pension  system  which  places 
all  those  who  have  served  him  long  and 
faithfully  heyond  want  in  their  old  age.  I 
wish  to  call  particular  attention  to  this,  be- 
cause I  believe  there  is  perhaps  no  single 
measure  likely  to  add  so  much  to  human 
happiness  as  a  judicious  pension  system, 
well  developed  and  placed  on  a  secure  finan- 
cial basis.  I  believe,  too,  that  it  is  practi- 
cable to  develop  such  a  system  both  for 
public  and  private  employees.  It  has  never 
been  clear  why  a  pension  system  should  be 
confined  to  the  army,  because  if  it  is  good 
for  the  army  it  is  also  good,  as  other  coun- 
tries have  found  out,  for  the  civil  servants 
of  city,  state,  and  nation.  The  abuses  which 
have  been  connected  ^vith  pensions  are  no 
argument  against  this  position,  because  the 
abuses  are  accidental  rather  than  essential 
parts  of  the  s^'stem.  It  should  be  under- 
stood that  the  pension  system  which  obtains 
in  Mr.  Childs's  oflice  is  a  regular  part  of  the 
remuneration  received  by  all  employees,  and 
not  simply  a  gift  to  the  poor  and  need}^ 
Mr.  Childs  sees  no  reason  why  a  man  who 
has    been    prudent,    thrifty,   and    fortunate 


Bclations  to  Ids  Employees.  327 

should  be  deprived  of  his  pension;  and  it  is 
said  that  recently  a  pensioner  of  the  Public 
Ledger  was  worth  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars. 

The  proper  aim  of  life  has  often  been  de- 
scribed to  be  the  full  and  harmonious  devel- 
opment of  all  our  faculties;  but  it  has  been 
too  often  tacitly,  if  not  explicitly,  assumed, 
that  this  full  and  harmonious  development 
is  for  the  few  only,  and  not  for  the  many. 
This  is  not,  however,  the  belief  of  Mr.  Childs. 
He  furnishes  the  most  cheerful,  wholesome, 
often  luxurious  rooms  for  the  entire  working 
force  of  the    Ledger,  and   in    the   printers' 
apartment  he  has  not  even  forgotten  to  use 
those    colors   on  the  walls  which  are  least 
trying  to  their   heavily-taxed  eyes.     Vaca- 
tions interrupt  regularly  the  hard  work  of 
the  Ledger  employees,  and  with  the  vacation 
there  comes  a  present  of  means  for  a  trip, 
sometimes  even  across  the  continent  or  to 
Europe.     On  each  Christmas-eve  every  em- 
ployee receives  a  present  in  money,  the  total 
amount   being   many   thousands  of  dollars 
annually.    This  is  what  Mr.  Childs  modestly 
calls  profit-sharing.    It  is,  in  truth,  however, 
the  noblest  form  of  genuine  philanthropy. 

There  are  three  events  in  the  relations 
of  Mr.  Childs  to  his  employees  which  are 


328  George  W.  Childs  in  his 

peculiarly  pleasing.  The  first  concerns  the 
rate  [)aid  for  type-setting.  This  rate  is  for 
Union  offices  fixed  hy  the  "  International 
Typographical  Union,"  and  most  employers 
think  they  are  doing  well  if  they  pay  with- 
out nmrnmring  all  that  is  asked.  [N^ot  so 
Mr.  Childs.  In  1876  a  delegation  of  his 
employees  came  to  him  with  tlie  announce- 
ment that  they  were  willing  to  have  their 
wages  reduced  from  forty-five  cents  a  thou- 
sand ems  to  forty  cents,  which  had  become 
the  Union  rate.  Mr.  Childs,  however,  re- 
plied that  he  saw  no  reason  why  he  should 
reduce  their  washes.  He  received  the  same 
price  as  formerly  for  his  advertisements,  the 
Public  Ledger  sold  for  the  same  price;  in 
short,  his  business  was  prosperous,  and  he 
saw  no  good  reason  why  his  employees 
should  not  share  in  his  prosperity.  lie  was 
satisfied  if  they  did.  The  result  has  been 
that  for  over  thirteen  years  Mr.  Childs  has 
been  paying  his  printers  in  the  aggregate 
over  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  more  than 
the  Union  rate  required,  or  more  than  he 
need  have  paid.  This,  too,  is  an  expression 
of  his  philanthropy  disguised  by  him  as 
profit-sharing. 

The  second  noteworthy  event  to  which  I 
have  referred  occurred   ten  years  later,  iii 


delations  to  his  Employees.  329 

1886.  It  was  during  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  International  Typographical  Union,  and 
consisted  in  the  presentation  of  a  check  for 
ten  thousand  dollars  to  that  body,  one-half 
given  by  ^Ir.  Childs  and  the  other  half  by 
his  life-long  friend,  the  well-known  banker, 
Mr.  Anthony  J.  Drexel.  The  gift  was  made 
without  conditions  of  any  sort,  and  its  final 
use  has  not  yet,  I  believe,  been  precisely  de- 
termined. It  was,  however,  gratefully  ac- 
cepted, and  it  was  decided  to  employ  it  for 
the  construction  of  some  kind  of  a  perma- 
nent memorial,  probably  a  building  in  Phil- 
adelphia to  serve  as  the  headquarters  of  the 
organization.  It  was  at  once  resolved  to  in- 
crease the  fund  by  a  beautiful  arrangement. 
It  was  voted  that  the  printers  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi should  set  a  thousand  ems  for  the  fund 
on  each  of  Mr.  Childs's  recurrins;  birthdavs. 
May  12,  and  that  those  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi should  set  a  thousand  ems  for  the  fund 
on  every  September  13,  which  is  Mr.  Drexel's 
birthday.  Accordingly,  every  time  these  an- 
niversaries occur  the  printers  send  to  the 
trustees  of  the  Childs-Drexel  fund  whatever 
is  received  for  setting  a  thousand  ems,  and 
thus  it  grows  at  the  rate  of  several  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  and  now  amounts  to  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

28* 


330  George  W.  Childs  in  his 

It  18  seen  from  this  that  Mr.  Childs  is  not 
liostile  to  labor  organizations;  indeed,  he 
openly  says  that  he  favors  them,  and  he  be- 
lieves that  had  no  organization  existed  among 
the  printers  their  rate  of  remuneration  would 
hardly  be  one-half  what  it  is  at  present. 
Mr.  Childs  holds  to  the  doctrines  of  equal 
rights  for  all  classes,  and  cannot  understand 
why  employees  have  not  as  much  right  to 
organize  as  their  employers.  A  man  who 
is  able  to  take  so  broad  and  srenerous  a 
view  of  much-maligned  labor  organizations 
deserves  the  highest  commendation. 

There  is  scarcely  room  for  more  than  one 
opinion  about  labor  organizations  on  the 
part  of  intelligent  and  impartial  men  who 
have  investigated  their  claims,  and  that  is 
favorable  to  them.  This  does  not  mean  that 
they  are  free  from  faults.  What  human  or- 
ganization is  free  from  faults  ?  Has  the  his- 
tory of  that  organization  which  we  call  the 
Christian  Church  been  such  that  her  mem- 
bers can  contemplate  it  with  unmingled  sat- 
isfaction ?  By  no  means.  Yet  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  that  organization  is  a  good  thing, 
and  that  the  world  is  to-day  a  thousand  times 
happier  and  better  than  it  would  be  had  the 
Christian  Church  never  existed. 

Labor  organizations  doubtless  have  their 


Relations  to  his  Employees.  331 

faults,  although  most  of  the  ohjectious 
brouo'ht  ao-aiust  them  are  slanders.  The 
true  course  would  then  seem  to  be  to  con- 
tend only  against  their  bad  features,  and 
to  give  them,  as  a  whole,  encouragement. 
This  is  the  policy  which  Mr.  Childs  has 
pursued,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  In- 
ternational Typographical  Union  is  on  his 
account  to-day  animated  with  a  far  more 
conservative,  conciliatory  spirit  than  would 
otherwise  be  the  case. 

Labor  organizations  are  not  merely  eco- 
nomic organizations  in  a  narrow  sense.  They 
are  that,  and,  well  conducted,  can  within 
certain  limits  raise  wages  or  keep  wages 
from  falling.  They  enable  labor  to  make 
the  best  of  the  existing  situation,  and  this 
can  be  as  clearly  proved,  perhaps,  as  any- 
thing in  political  economy.  But  labor  or- 
ganizations are  generally  active  temperance 
organizations,  many  of  their  members  being 
total  abstainers  and  prohibitionists.  Fur- 
thermore, they  are  educational  societies, 
training  their  members  in  speaking,  writing, 
and  discussion,  out  of  all  of  which  proceeds  a 
better  understanding  of  the  questions  of  the 
day.  They  are,  finally,  social  organizations, 
where  the  social  side  of  the  nature  of  their 


members  is  cultivated,  and  in  the  crowded 


332  Gcor(je  W.  Childs  in  his 

modern  city  this  is  of  special  importance. 
All  this  makes  it  plain  how  good  a  deed  is 
done  by  any  one  who  helps  to  develop  the 
be^t  features  of  labor  organizations. 

The  experience  of  Professor  Thorold 
Rogers,  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  is  so 
typical  that  it  is  worth  while  to  quote  it 
here.  I  may  say  in  this  place  that  it  is  quite 
similar  to  my  experience,  although  I  presume 
I  do  not  expect  so  much  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  labor  alone  as  does  Professor  Rogers. 
"  These  institutions,"  says  Professor  Rogers, 
"  were  repressed  with  passionate  violence 
and  malignant  watchfulness  as  long  as  it  was 
possible  to  do  so.  When  it  was  necessary 
to  relax  the  severities  of  the  older  laws,  they 
were  still  persecuted  by  legal  chicanery, 
whenever  oppression  could  on  any  pretence 
be  justified.  As  they  were  slowly  emanci- 
pated, they  have  constantly  been  the  object 
of  alarmist  calumnies  and  sinister  predic- 
tions. I  do  not  speak  of  the  language  of 
newspapers  and  reviews.  .  .  .  Far  graver 
were  the  allegations  of  Senior  and  Thorn- 
ton. .  .  .  Even  my  friend  Mr.  Mill  treated 
these  forces  of  industrial  life  with  a  strano:e 
indifference.  I  confess  to  having  at  one 
time  viewed  them  suspiciously- ;  but  a  long 
study  of  the  history  of  labor  has  convinced 


Relations  to  his  Employees,  333 

me  that  they  are  not  only  the  best  friends 
of  workmen,  but  the  best  agency  for  the 
employer  and  the  public,  and  that  to  the 
extension  of  these  associations  poUtical  econ- 
omists and  statesmen  must  look  for  the  solu- 
tion of  some  among  the  most  pressing  and 
the  most  difficult  problems  of  our  time." 

Another  illustration  will  show  how  far 
Mr.  Childs  carries  his  friendly  interest  in 
whatever  concerns  his  employees.  A  few 
years  ago  there  appeared  in  Philadelphia  a 
new  labor  paper.  It  was  stated  that  Mr. 
Childs  had  presented  every  workingman  in 
his  establishment  with  a  year's  subscription. 
What  a  contrast  this  is  to  the  conduct  of 
those  employers  who  are  willing  to  discharge 
men  for  reading  labor  papers  ! 

The  third  event  to  which  I  alluded  was 
the  attempt  to  bring  forward  Mr.  Childs  as 
a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  His  name, 
it  is  said,  was  first  mentioned  for  this  posi- 
tion by  the  Washington  w^eekly,  The  Crafts- 
man, long  the  official  organ  of  the  Inter- 
national Typographical  Union.  The  pro- 
posal was  greeted  with  enthusiasm  in  many 
c^uarters,  and  in  its  issue  of  February  25, 
1888,  The  Craftsman  voiced  the  sentiment  of 
many  printers  when  it  said,  "  George  W. 
Childs  before  the  people  !     It  is  too  good  to 


334  George  W.  CJiilds  in  his 

be  true."  Yet  many  tried  to  make  it  true, 
and  it  was  not  merely  in  labor  quarters  that 
the  proposal  was  favorably  received.  The 
more  people  turned  the  idea  over  in  their 
minds,  the  stronger  did  it  become,  and  vol- 
untary otters  of  influential  sup[)ort  began  to 
pour  in  from  every  side.  Democrats,  Re- 
publicans, capitalists,  and  wage-earners  w^ere 
eager  to  unite  in  the  Presidential  campaign 
with  Mr.  Childs  as  leader.  The  proprie- 
tor of  a  Democratic  newspaper  in  the  East 
pledged  the  support  of  his  influential  journal, 
and  oflered  himself  to  subscribe  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  campaign  expenses.  A 
proprietor  of  a  leading  Democratic  journal  of 
the  West  made  a  similar  pledge,  with  an  offer 
of  a  personal  subscription  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  Proprietors  of  leading  Republican 
newspapers  likewise  promised  to  rally  around 
Mr.  Childs  as  Presidential  candidate.  Mr. 
Childs,  however,  never  could  see  his  way 
clear  to  an  acceptance  of  all  this  unsought 
and  enthusiastically-pledged  support,  and,  in 
spite  of  all  entreaties,  positively  declined  to 
allow  his  name  to  be  used,  going  so  far  as  to 
say  that  he  would  feel  compelled  to  refuse 
the  ofiice  even  if  he  should  be  elected  to  it. 
This  declination  was  doubtless  a  bitter  dis- 
appointment   to    many   printers   who    had 


Relations  to  his  Employees,  335 

hoped  to  see  their  true  friend  occupying  the 
highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  Yet 
they  acquiesced  in  his  decision,  and  their 
admiration  and  affection  suffered  no  abate- 
ment. 

Those  printers  and  pressmen  who  have  rep- 
resented Philadelphia  at  the  annual  meetings 
of  the  International  Typographical  Union 
have  formed  an  orcranization  called  "  The 
Association  of  Ex-Delegates  of  Philadelphia 
Typographical  Union  ^o.  2  and  of  Press- 
men's Union  Xo.  4  to  the  International  Ty- 
pographical Union,"  and  they  determined 
in  1888  to  hold  a  grand  celebration  on  May 
12  in  honor  of  Mr.  Childs's  birthday.  A 
banquet  v^^as  provided  at  which  many 
speeches  were  made  eulogizing  Mr.  Childs, 
and  from  one  of  them  I  have  already  quoted. 
Several  visitors  from  Washins^ton,  includiuo: 
Congressmen  who  had  once  been  composi- 
tors, attended  this  memorable  banquet.  It 
was  proposed  that  they  should  each  set  up  a 
thousand  ems  and  donate  the  proceeds  to  the 
Childs-Drexel  fund,  but  at  the  close  of  the 
banquet  it  was  too  late.  The  intention  was 
mentioned  by  Congressman  James  O'Don- 
nell,  of  Michigan,  and  naturally  it  was  vo- 
ciferously applauded.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
Mr.  O'Donnell,  and  his  printer  colleagues, 


336  George  W.  Cliilda  in  1m 

eight  in  nil,  after  their  return  to  Washington, 
(lid  on  May  19  set  up  a  thousand  ems  each, 
and  contribute  the  amount  received  to  the 
fund  mentioned. 

Remembering  the  hostile  feelings  existing 
so  often  between  large  employers  and  labor 
organizations,  it  is  well  to  make  extracts  from 
two  of  the  letters  of  leading  officers  of  the 
International  Typographical  Union  which 
were  read  on  that  occasion.  The  following 
is  from  the  letter  of  Wm.  Aimison,  the 
President  of  that  body  : 

"  I  regret  my  inability  to  be  present,  owing  to  the 
nearness  of  the  meeting  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union  and  the  rush  of  business  incident 
thereto.  There  is  no  one  to-day  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  I.  T.  U.  whom  the  printers  of  the  country 
would  delight  to  honor  more  than  Mr.  Childs.  May 
his  birthdays  be  continued,  and  when  the  Avarm  heart 
and  charitable  hand  are  stilled  in  death,  may  his  mem- 
ory be  as  a  refreshing  draught  to  strengthen  and  to 
re-encouraire  us  in  the  battle  of  life." 

The  following  extract  is  from  the  letter  of 
David  P.  Boyer,  the  chief  organizer : 

"  I  hereby  send  my  regrets  at  not  being  able  to  at- 
tend. No  other  labor  organization  in  this  or  any  otiier 
country  lias  ever  received  such  consideration  at  the 
hands  of  any  one  man  as  did  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union  in  June.  1886,  from  George  W.  Childs, 


Relations  to  his  Employees.  337 

whose  name  is  revered  and  honored  throughout  the 
entire  jurisdiction  of  the  grand  body.  .  .  .  Long  life 
and  happiness  to  the  friends  of  Union  printers,  George 
W.  Childs  and  Anthony  J.  Drexel." 

It  onsfht  to  be  mentioned  in  this  connec- 
tion  that  in  the  local  headquarters  of  the 
printers  of  Washington  and  several  other 
cities  a  handsome  portrait  of  Mr.  Childs 
adorns  the  walls  and  is  res^arded  as  one  of 
their  most  cherished  possessions. 

I  think  I  can  in  no  way  more  fitly  con- 
clude this  paper  on  Mr.  Childs's  Relations 
to  his  Employees  than  by  quoting  the  ad- 
ditional testimony  given  by  Harper's  Weekly 
of  January  11,  1890,  in  the  following  just 
tribute  to  that  generous  consideration  which 
Mr.  Childs  shows  in  so  practical  a  manner 
for  all  those  in  his  employ : 

"  It  was  long  ago  said  of  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  the 
publisher  of  the  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger,  that  he 
was  the  two  '  Cheery ble  Brothers'  rolled  into  one  ;  but 
probably  a  more  appropriate  name  for  him  would  be 
the  Santa  Claus  of  the  newspaper  world.  On  this  last 
Christmas  day  Mr.  Childs,  it  is  said,  gave  presents 
amounting  to  many  thousands  of  dollars  in  hard  cash 
to  the  editors,  reporters,  compositors,  pressmen,  and 
other  employees  of  the  Ledger.  When  it  is  considered 
that  the  salaries  and  wages  paid  by  Mr.  Childs  are  as 
large  as  the  largest  paid  by  other  Philadelphia  publish- 
ers, it  will  be  recognized  that  any  one  associated  with 
T        w  29 


338  George  W.  Childs  in  his 

him  in  his  work  has  cause  to  be  satisfied  witii  his  em- 
ployer. It  is  said  by  his  employees,  however,  that  they 
have  even  greater  cause  for  satisfaction  with  him  be- 
cause of  his  daily  consideration  for  them  than  for  his 
Christmas  bounty.  It  is  represented  to  be  pretty  much 
of  the  same  admirable  sort  as  that  of  Mr.  Fezziwig  for 
his  employees,  which  was  so  Avarmly  described  by 
Scrooge.  '  He  has  the  power,'  said  old  Jacob  Marley's 
partner,  '  to  render  us  happy  or  unhappy  ;  to  make  our 
service  light  or  burdensome,  a  pleasure  or  a  toil.  Say 
that  his  power  lies  in  w^ords  and  looks,  in  things  so 
slight  and  insignificant  that  it  is  impossible  to  add  and 
count  'em  up;  what  then?  The  happiness  he  gives  is 
quite  as  great  as  if  it  cost  a  fortune.'  That  is  said  to 
describe  with  wondrous  accuracy  Mr.  Childs's  relations 
with  his  employees,  who  say  he  is  a  man  who  honors 
Christmas  in  his  heart,  and  keeps  it  always." 

The  Philadelphia  Record  prefaced  the 
above,  in  republishing  it,  with  the  caption, 
"True — Every  Word  of  it;"  to  which  the 
New  York  San^  in  its  republication,  added, 
"  And  Hundreds  of  Men  in  all  Parts  of  the 
Country  will  Confirm  it." 

All  that  I  have  written  reads  more  like  a 
fairy  story  than  a  description  of  real  life, 
and  it  is  refreshing  to  a  political  economist 
who  is  so  continually  concerned  with  clash- 
ing social  interests,  occasionally  to  find  a 
great  industrial  establishment  where  such 
peace  and  harmony  prevail  as  to  make  it 
seem  like  a  veritable  happy  family. 


Relations  to  his  Employees.  339 

We  often  hear  the  expression  that  the 
interests  of  labor  and  capital  are  harmoni- 
ous; that  they  are  allies,  not  enemies  :  but, 
curiously  enough,  the  practical  conclusion 
which  seems  to  be  drawn  from  this  is  that 
labor  should  always  submit  to  the  commands 
of  capital,  although  it  is  not  clear  why  it  is 
not  just  as  logical  to  expect  capital  always 
to  accede  to  the  demands  of  labor  if  their 
interests  are  identical.  I  have  never  been 
able  to  reconcile  this  beautiful  sentiment 
with  the  hard  facts  of  life.  At  the  same 
time,  I  think  that  any  one  who  will  study 
the  experience  of  Mr.  Childs  and  other  em- 
ployers who  might  be  mentioned, — some  of 
them,  indeed,  in  the  same  line  of  business, — 
will  be  convinced  that,  if  the  interests  of 
employers  and  employed  are  not  always  pre- 
cisely identical,  there  is,  at  any  rate,  not  that 
diversitv  of  interests  which  mi  ofht  be  inferred 
from  the  too  frequent  conduct  of  both  parties. 
A  more  conciliatory  spirit  on  both  sides 
would  certainly  be  mutually  advantageous. 

Philanthropy  is  of  two  sorts,  —  positive 
and  preventive.  Positive  philanthropy  tries 
to  mitigate  or  remedy  evils.  It  builds  hos- 
pitals for  the  sick  and  relieves  paupers.  This 
is  all  very  well  in  its  way,  but  there  is  a 
far  higher  kind  of  philanthropy,  though  it 


34.0  Relations  to  Employees. 

attracts  less  attention.  It  is  preventive.  It 
looks  ahead  and  takes  measnres  to  lessen  the 
need  of  almshouses  and  hospitals.  The 
philanthropy  of  a  model  employer  is  of  this 
latter  sort.  lie  pays  good  wages  and  de- 
serves to  rank  higher  than  a  capitalist  who 
cuts  wages  and  who  contributes  largely  to 
ordinary  charitable  institutions.  He  helps 
men  to  help  themselves,  and  lifts  them  to  a 
higher  plane  of  thought  and  life. 

Richard  T.  Ely. 

January,  1890. 


CELEBRATION 


OF    THE 


BIRTHDAY  OF  GEORGE  W.  CHILDS. 


The  following  account  of  the  Banquet  of 
*'  The  Association  of  Ex-Deles^ates  of  Phil- 
adelphia  Typographical  Union,  ]S"o.  2,  and 
of  Pressmen's  Union,  'No.  4,  to  the  Inter- 
national Typographical  Union,"  May  12, 
1888,  is  taken  from  the  Printers^  Circular, 
Philadelphia. 

May  12,  1888,  will  long  be  remembered  by  the 
printers  of  Philadelphia  and  vicinity  for  the  celebra- 
tion by  them  of  the  birthday  of  their  steadfast  friend 
and  distinguished  fellow-citizen,  George  W.  Childs, 
publisher  of  the  Public  Ledger. 

The  Association  of  Ex-Delegates  of  Philadelphia 
Typographical  Union,  No.  2,  and  of  Pressmen's  Union, 
No.  4,  to  the  International  Typographical  Union,  hav- 
ing resolved  that  some  fitting  celebration  of  the  day 
should  be  held,  it  was  decided  that  a  Testimonial  Ban- 
quet should  be  given  at  Dooner's  Hotel,  to  which  should 

29*  341 


342      .  Celebration  of  the 

be  invited  the  eight  printers  who  were  members  of  the 
United  States  House  of  Representatives,  together  with 
many  distinguished  members  of  the  printing  and  pub- 
lishing fraternities  throughout  the  country. 

When  in  1886  Messrs.  Childs  and  Drexel  sent  their 
respective  checks  for  five  thousand  dolhirs  to  the  Con- 
vention of  the  International  Typographial  Union,  then 
in  session  at  Pittsburgh,  provision  was  made  that  the  in- 
dividual members  should  have  the  opportunity  to  assist 
in  au^mentinc:;  the  fund  until  such  time  as  it  was  seen 
fit  to  make  disposition  of  it.  It  was  then  arranged  that 
the  printers  east  of  the  Mississippi  should,  for  this  pur- 
pose, contribute  the  price  paid  for  setting  one  thousand 
ems  on  Mr.  Childs's  birthday.  May  12,  of  each  year,  and 
that  those  west  of  the  Mississippi  should  do  likewise  on 
the  annual  recurrence  of  Mr.  Drexel's  birthday,  Septem- 
ber 13.  Following  out  this  plan  of  mutual  assistance,  the 
printers  Avest  of  the  Mississippi  have  made  two  annual 
contributions  to  the  fund,  and  on  Saturday,  May  12, 
the  second  contributions  of  printers  this  side  of  the 
great  river  were  made.  Excluding  these  last  contri- 
butions, of  which  but  meagre  returns  have  yet  been 
received,  the  fund  has  already  increased  to  over  sixteen 
thousand  dollars. 

The  earnest  efforts  of  the  Ex-Delegates  to  appropri- 
ately observe  Mr.  Childs's  natal  day,  and  the  sponta- 
neous and  hearty  responses  of  distinguished  men  who 
had  graduated  from  the  printing-ofiice,  resulted  in  a 
celebration  as  memorable  as  it  was  successful  and 
enjoyable  to  all  who  participated  in  it. 

The  handsome  dining-hall  was  decorated  with  the 
national  colors,  and  behind  the  President's  chair  was 
placed  a  magnificent  painting  of  the  Public  Ledgei- 
building,  in  a  massive  frame,  on  one  side  of  which 
hung  a  life-size  portrait  of  Mr.  Childs,  and  on  the  other 


Bhihday  of  George  W.  Childs.        343 

a  corresponding  portrait  of  Mr.  Drexel,  elegantly  framed 
and  decorated.  Over  these  were  the  stars  and  stripes, 
and  below  a  bank  of  flowers,  the  gift  of  the  employees 
of  the  ''Ledger  Job  office."  To  the  left  of  Mr.  Childs's 
portrait  was  displayed  the  silken  banner  of  Typograpli- 
ibal  Union,  No.  2,  of  Philadelphia,  and  to  the  right  of 
Mr.  Drexel's  portrait  hung  the  beautiful  banner  of 
Pressmen's  Union,  No.  4,  of  this  city. 

On  the  table  and  about  the  banquet-hall  flowers  and 
flowering  plants  were  profusely  distributed,  producing, 
with  the  other  elaborate  and  tasteful  decorations,  a  most 
pleasing  and  graceful  effect.  In  front  of  each  plate  was 
placed  a  menu  card,  noticeable  for  its  typographical 
beauty,  and,  in  addition,  before  the  plate  of  each  Con- 
gressional guest  was  a  remembrance  from  Mr.  Childs 
in  the  shape  of  a  fragrant  bouquet.  Besides  these, 
numerous  bouquets  and  plateaus  were  sent  as  birthday 
gifts  to  Mr.  Childs,  with  the  compliments  of  warm  per- 
sonal friends  and  invited  guests  who  could  not  be  pres- 
ent, among  whom  was  William  M.  Singerly,  Esq.,  pro- 
prietor and  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Becord,  who  sent 
as  a  token  of  his  friendship  and  esteem  a  floral  gift  of 
great  natural  beauty  and  elegance  of  design.  During 
the  evening,  and  between  the  speeches,  music  was  dis- 
coursed by  Simon  Hassler's  orchestra. 

THE    BANQUET. 

At  half-past  seven  o'clock  Mr.  John  A.  Dardis,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Ex-Delegates'  Association,  called  the  com- 
pany to  order,  and  the  one  hundred  members  and  guests 
were  seated.     Mr.  Dardis  said, — • 

Gentlemen', — As  President  of  the  Ex-Delegates'  As- 
sociation of  Philadelphia,  it  becomes  my  pleasant  duty 
to  welcome  you,  and  to  ask  your  hearty  co-operation 


344  Celebration  of  the 

in  this  effort  fittingly  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  onr 
distinguished  fellow-citizen  and  benefactor,  George  W. 
Childs,  publisher  of  the  Public  Ledger. 

While  the  printers  east  of  the  Mississippi  are  cele- 
brating the  day  by  each  setting  a  thousand  ems  of  type 
as  a  contribution  to  the  Childs-Drexel  fund,  it  seemcU 
to  us  that  the  printers  of  Philadelphia  should,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  contribution,  publicly  bear  testimony  to 
their  appreciation  of  Mr.  Childs's  noble,  unselfish,  and 
long-continued  generosity  to  the  entire  printing  fra- 
ternity. 

Hence  this  Testimonial  Banquet  in  his  honor,  to 
which  you  are  cordially  invited  ;  and,  with  your  assist- 
ance, we  hope  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  memorable 
events  in  the  history  of  the  art  preservative. 

I  now  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  to  you 
Mr.  James  J.  Dailey,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements. 

Mr.  Dailey,  upon  being  introduced,  briefly  ac- 
knowledged the  applause  with  which  he  was  greeted, 
and  introduced  the  Rev.  John  R.  Moses,  Rector  of  St. 
Jude's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  who 
invoked  the  Divine  blessing. 

The  announcement  was  made  that  letters  and  tele- 
grams, expressing  their  regret,  because  of  their  ina- 
bility to  be  present,  had  been  received  from  Hon.  Simon 
Cameron,  who  is  probably  the  oldest  printer  in  the 
United  States  ;  Hon.  John  Russell  Young,  late  U.  S. 
Minister  to  China  ;  Hon.  John  H.  Oberly,  ex-President 
of  the  International  Typographical  Union  and  Civil- 
Service  Commissioner,  and  the  following  printers  or 
ex-printers  : 

Congressman  J.  H.  Gallinger,  of  Concord,  N.  H. 
Congressman  Thos.  L.  Thompson,  of  California. 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Chllds.        345 

Harper  &  Bros.,  Publishers,  New  York. 

E.  M.  Paxson,  Chief  Justice  Supreme  Court  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Hon.  A.  K.  McClure,  Editor  Philadelphia  Times. 

Thomas  MacKellar,  of  MacKellar,  Smiths  &  Jordan, 
type-founders,  Philadelphia. 

Wm.  Aimison,  President  International  Typograph- 
ical Union. 

David  P.  Boyer,  Chief  Organizer  of  the  I.  T.  U. 

Ex-President  "Witter,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

John  O'Donnell,  of  Boston,  ex-Secretary-Treasurer 
I.  T.  U. 

AVm.  Bodwell,  New  York  Sun,  ex-President  I.  T.  U. 

Dr.  Egle,  State  Librarian  of  Pennsylvania. 

R.  P.  Boss,  of  the  Boston  Globe. 

John  Vincent,  of  the  Boston  Globe. 

After  the  more  material  part  of  the  banquet  had  been 
discussed  by  the  members  and  guests,  the  feast  of  rea- 
son and  flow  of  sentiment  and  wit  were  begun  by 
Chairman  and  Toastmaster  Dailey  announcing  the 
first  regular  toast,  "  The  International  Typographical 
Union,"  and  introducino;  Congressman  John  M.  Far- 
quhar,  the  "War  President  of  the  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,"  to  respond  to  it. 

CONGRESSMAN    FARQUHAr's    SPEECH. 

Mr.  Farquhar,  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  arose,  amid  an 
outburst  of  applause,  and  after  paying  a  compliment  to 
Typographical  Union,  No.  2,  of  Philadelphia,  for  its 
steadfastness  and  reliability,  said  that  his  feeling  of 
gratification  was  divided  between  meeting  and  congrat- 
ulating Mr.  Ciiilds  and  meeting  and  congratulating  his 
old  comrades  of  the  composing-room.     He  said, — 


34G  Celebration  of  the 

Thirty  seven  years  ago  there  was  cradled  in  the  city 
of  New  York  an  organization  which,  by  its  wise  con- 
stitution and  sensible  deliberations  upon  matters  of 
interest  to  the  printers'  fraternity,  placed  itself  in  th§ 
van  of  labor  organizations  and  made  itself  first — the 
leader — the  exponent  of  every  individual  man's  right 
to  the  full  value  of  the  labor  of  his  hands,  as  w^ell  as 
his  brain. 

lie  referred  to  the  International  Typographical 
Union,  the  high  honor  of  which  he  vindicated,  and  to 
the  great  satisfaction  he  entertained,  personally,  in  the 
recollection  of  the  early  days  of  the  Union.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  this  was  the  first  time  that  the  toast, 
"  The  International  Typographical  Union,"  had  been 
assigned  to  hira,  and  on  such  an  occasion  he  was  proud 
to  refer  to  it,  and  to  the  way  he  had  won  his  spurs, 
"stick"'  in  hand,  at  the  journeyman's  case.  He  then 
said, — 

It  is  germane  that  I  should  say  a  word,  as  a  journey- 
man printer,  about  the  gentleman  whose  birthday  we 
celebrate.  I  never  knew  one  act  of  a  public  or  private 
citizen  of  this  country  that  struck  me  with  more  mean- 
ing in  it  than  the  present  of  Messrs.  Childs  and  Drexel 
of  five  thousand  dollars  each  to  this  organization.  It 
was  not  a  restricted  donation,  but  a  present — a  free 
and  absolute  gift.  No  association  has  ever  before  been 
placed  in  the  position  of  receiving  a  gift  wjthout  some 
hesitancy,  whether  it  was  intended  as  a  tribute  to  merit 
or  not.  But  from  these  men  it  came  and  was  accepted 
as  an  acknowledgment  of  merit,  urging  us  to  step 
higher.  It  was  a  gift  unconditional,  and  with  it  went 
the  message  of  encouragement:  "We  acknowledo-e 
your  work,  and  here  we  show,  by  our  hands  and  our 
hearts,  that  you  are  an  organization  we  love." 

Mr.  Farquhar  proceeded  to  eulogize  Mr.  Childs  and 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        347 

Mr.  Drexel,  growing  very  earnest  in  his  praises  of  their 
generous  act,  which  he  regarded  as  of  great  significance 
to  workingmen.  Raising  his  voice,  he  exclaimed, 
"  Every  Union  printer  in  America  will  say,  '  God  bless 

George  W.  Childs  and  Anthony  J.  Drexel '  *'     The 

remainder  of  the  sentence  was  drowned  in  applause, 
for  at  that  moment  Mr.  Childs,  to  the  surprise  of  every- 
body in  the  banquet-hall,  made  his  appearance.  Mr. 
Farquhar  took  his  seat,  Messrs.  Chairman  Dailey  and 
Joel  Cook  welcomed  Mr.  Childs,  and  the  orchestra 
played  Ilasslers  waltz,  "  Wootton."  The  effect  was 
strikingly  dramatic,  and  Mr.  Farquhar  was  congratu- 
lated on  the  appropriateness  of  his  closing  remarks. 

As  soon  as  the  applause  subsided,  Mr.  Dailey  intro- 
duced Mr.  Childs  as  the  first  citizen  of  Philadelphia, 
and,  "  in  the  hearts  of  the  printers,  the  first  citizen  of 
America."  Mr.  Childs  bowed  his  acknowledgments. 
On  behalf  of  Mr.  Joseph  Pulitzer,  proprietor  and  editor 
of  the  New  York  World,  Mr.  Dailey  then  presented 
Mr.  Childs  with  a  magnificent  bouquet.  This  token 
of  good  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  distinguished  Xew 
York  publisher  was  also  warmly  recognized.  Mr. 
Childs  remained  for  about  half  an  hour,  and  was  then 
escorted  around  the  table  to  enable  him  to  shake  hands 
with  the  men  who  had  met  to  do  him  honor,  and  to 
receive  their  congratulations.  This  pleasant  duty  being 
over,  he  retired. 

The  next  toast, 

"  THE    DAY  WE    CELEBRATE," 

was  responded  to  by  Mr.  Eugene  H.  Munday  (the  well- 
known  printer-poet  and  prose  writer  of  Philadelphia), 
who  said, — 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen, — 1  have  not  felt  at 


348  Celebration  of  the 

liberty  to  decline  the  invitation  to  respond  to  this  toast, 
thou^^h  most  sincerely  do  I  wish  that  the  honorable 
duty  had  been  assigned  to  some  one  better  qualified  to 
treat  the  theme  as  it  deserves.  I  have  not  felt  free  to 
decline  the  invitation,  because  it  comes  from  the  valued 
friends  of  my  whole  life;  and  if  it  shall  appear  that 
kind  resrard  for  me  has  caused  the  committee  to  err  in 
choosing  a  spokesman  for  this  occasion,  I  hope  that  you 
will  all  emulate  that  spirit  of  kindness  and  excuse  the 
shortcomings  that  may  be  too  obvious  in  what  I  shall 
say. 

On  the  twelfth  day  of  May,  1829,  George  W.  Childs 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  and  this  body  of 
printers  assembles  here  to-night  to  celebrate  that  event. 
A  small  body  of  men  we  are,  of  no  special  importance 
in  the  great  world,  or  even  within  the  limits  of  our 
own  city  ;  and  shallow  ill-nature  might  carp  at  our 
action  as  savoring  of  presumptuous  forwardness.  But 
there  is,  I  venture  to  assert,  eminent  propriety  in  such 
a  meeting  of  just  such  men  for  just  this  purpose. 

This  modest  Association,  having  no  object  but  social 
intercourse  and  the  cultivation  of  friendly  relations, 
is  composed  of  men  who  at  different  times  have  been 
selected  to  represent  the  journeymen  printers  of  Phila- 
delphia in  National  and  International  Conventions. 
We  cannot  be  sure  that  they  at  all  times  adequately 
represented  their  constituents  ;  but  who  can  doubt  that 
they  will  represent  the  feelings,  not  only  of  the  printers 
of  this  city,  but  of  the  -workingmen  of  the  whole 
country,  if  they  shall  in  any  measure  acceptably  com- 
memorate the  birth  of  a  man  who — untainted  by  dem- 
agogism — is  preeminent  as  the  intelligent  and  powerful 
friend  of  all  legitimate  efforts  to  assert  and  maintain 
the  rights  of  organized  labor  ;  who,  in  his  use  of  wealth, 
and  in  the  conduct  of  his  business,  daily  typifies  the 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Cliilds.         349 

highest  functions  of  capital ;  and  who  stands  ever  ready 
personally  and  in  the  columns  of  his  influential  journal 
— by  generous  acts  and  cheering  words — to  forward 
every  well-considered  movement  that  promises  to  benefit 
the  toilino;  masses.  And  if  our  little  celebration  seems 
to  be  not  worthy  of  the  occasion,  we  at  least  mark  out 
the  course  that  larger  and  more  influential  bodies  may 
follow  in  coming  vears. 

There  is,  I  say,  an  eminent  fitness  in  the  inaugura- 
tion of  such  celebrations  by  a  body  of  practical  printers. 
Far-reaching  as  has  been  the  beneficence  of  Mr.  Childs, 
it  has  been  most  direct,  most  constant — closest — to  the 
craft  of  which  we  are  members,  and  which  hails  him 
as  chief  among  its  honored  chiefs.  And  the  striking 
fact  must  be  noticed  that  the  regard  and  honor  that 
wait  on  him  are  borne  alike  by  the  most  prominent  and 
the  most  obscure  of  all  classes  in  the  printing  frater- 
nity. Successful  publishers  and  struggling  beginners  ; 
authors  whose  fame  is  part  of  their  country's,  and 
those  who  languish  unrecognized  5  editors  of  command- 
ing influence,  and  unknown  hack-writers ;  master 
mechanics  who  conceive,  construct,  put  into  motion, 
and  control  the  vast  machinery  now  necessary  to  the 
life  of  a  great  daily  newspaper,  and  the  veriest  tyro 
that  blunders  in  the  shop  ;  the  patient,  alert  proof- 
reader, and  the  careless,  sleepy  copy-holder ;  the  skil- 
ful, self-respecting  compositor,  and  the  poor  fellow 
who  borrows  a  quarter  on  the  curb, — all  these  varieties 
and  grades  of  men  unite  in  respect,  bordering  on  ven- 
eration, for  the  proprietor  of  the  Public  Ledger.  He 
has  achieved  the  triumph  of  commanding  the  admira- 
tion of  all,  while  exciting  the  jealousy  of  none. 

Nor  is  this  respect  confined  to  the  circle  that  feels 

most  directly  the  action  of  his  impulses  and  the  force 

of  his  character. 

30 


350  Celebration  of  the 

Throu<rhout  our  Ijroiid  land — vea,  and  far  across  the 
seas — there  is  felt  for  George  W.  Childs  a  degree  of 
active  and  warm  personal  regard  which  has  never  be- 
fore, I  believe,  been  accorded  to  a  private  citizen,  and 
which  waits  only  for  his  consent  (wisely  withheld)  to 
take  him  from  the  private  station  and  clothe  him  with 
the  highest  honor  that  a  free  people  can  bestow. 

Abreast  of  Mr.  Childs  in  public  esteem — so  closely 
identified  witli  him  in  good  works  that  it  is  difficult  to 
think  or  speak  of  them  apart — stands  the  great  Amer- 
ican banker,  Anthony  J.  Drexel.  Great,  I  say,  not 
because  of  his  wealth  and  his  commanding  position, 
but  because  of  the  wise  and  liberal  use  that  he  makes 
of  the  rich  fruits  of  his  industry  and  business  acumen  ; 
great  not  merely  in  the  power  that  he  wields,  but  in 
the  goodness  that  directs  that  power  ;  great  in  the  fine 
qualities  of  his  brain,  greatest  in  the  generous  impulses 
of  his  heart.  Happy  if  all  possessors  of  great  wealth 
and  power  had  the  wisdom  and  grace  to  follow  the  lead 
of  Drexel  and  Childs.  Then  might  the  clouds  that 
overhang  and  threaten  our  social  fabric  bo  dispelled ; 
then  might  we  hope  for  the  realization  of  the  dream 
of  the  poets  of  all  ages ;  then  might  we  look  for  the 
crowning  fruition  of  Christ's  precepts,  and  hail  the 
establishment  of  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

Many  admiraljle  sketches  of  Mr.  Childs's  career  have 
been  written,  notably  that  by  James  Parton  ;  that  by 
Col.  John  AV.  Forney ;  and  that  by  J.  W.  Huff,  which 
appeared  in  the  Printers'  Circular^  and  which  has  the 
grace  of  thorough  and  genial  appreciation.  But  it 
must  be  said  that  they  are  all  unsatisfying,  and  mainly, 
I  fancy,  to  their  authors.  I  have  experimented  in  that 
direction  myself.  Certainly  they  fail  to  develop  the 
occult  philosophy  which  Hamlet  longed  for,  and  which 
alone  might  fully  explain  a  truly  unique  character. 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.         351 

This  is  not  strange  when  we  know  that  a  man  so  emi- 
nent, so  conscientious,  and  with  so  careful  a  habit  of 
mind  as  the  late  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  at  Washington,  deliberately  wrote, 
"  Mr.  Childs  is  a  wonderful  man.  .  .  .  Like  man  in  the 
classification  of  animals,  he  forms  a  genus  in  himself. 
He  stands  alone  ;  there  is  not  another  in  the  wide 
world  like  him."  And  Hon.  John  Russell  Young,  in 
a  late  number  of  the  Star^  gives  prominence  to  a 
quality  that  is  often  overlooked  in  estimating  the 
make-up  of  this  distinguished  man.  He  says,  "  Far 
and  away  above  any  man  with  whose  career  I  am  at 
all  familiar,  I  place  Mr.  Childs  as  the  best  business 
man  in  American  journalism.'' 

These,  bear  in  mind,  are  the  well-considered  opinions 
of  men  who  knew  the  weio-ht  of  words. 

Thus  let  me  close.  This  is  not  the  time  to  attempt 
anything  like  an  analysis  of  the  elements  that  go  to 
make  up  the  singularly  beautiful  and  interesting  char- 
acter of  "  the  best-loved  man  of  our  land  ;"  nor  should 
I,  at  any  time,  assume  a  task  that  much  abler  men 
have  but  imperfectly  performed. 

My  purpose  is  fairly  accomplished  if,  without  weary- 
ing you,  I  have  given  good  reasons  why  we — printers 
— should  thus  meet  and  honor  "  The  Day  We  Cele- 
brate." It  is  the  one  that,  fifty-nine  years  ago,  noted 
the  advent  into  this  life  of  a  rare  spirit,  which,  in  its  full 
and  gracious  development,  comiuands  the  unstinted  ad- 
miration of  the  brightest  and  worthiest  men  of  our  time. 


o 


After  the  applause  with  which  Mr.  Munday's  cordial, 
graceful  efibrt  was  greeted  had  subsided, 

CONGRESSMAN    THOMAS    R.    HUDD, 

of  Wisconsin,  responded  to  the   toast  "  Our  Guests." 
After  humorously  alluding  to  his  personal  experience, 


352  Celebration  of  the 

Mr.  Iludd  turned  his  attention  to  "  the  celebration  of  the 
natal  day  of  that  gentleman  known,  respected  and  ven- 
erated in  the  "West,  that  honored  Philadelphian,  George 
W.  Childs."  Touching  upon  the  presentation  of  the 
Stratford-upon-Avon  drinking-fountain  in  memory  of 
Shakespeare,  Mr.  Iludd  said  that  the  AVcst  also  re- 
vered that  man,  and  "took  no  stock  in  Donnelly,  who 
forced  Bacon  in  what  he  wrote."  He  then  lauded  Mr. 
Childs  for  his  beneficence  and  unselfishness.  "  Taken 
all  in  all,"'  he  said,  "we  may  never  see  his  like  again." 
Mr.  Hudd  then  drew  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  purity 
of  Mr.  Childs" s  character  as  likened  to  the  spotless 
flowers  in  the  bouquet  before  him,  and  closed  with  the 
following  quotation  as  applicable  to  the  honored  guest 
of  the  evening : 

"You  may  break,  you  may  shatter  the  vase  if  you  will. 
But  the  scent  of  the  roses  will  hang  round  it  still." 

GENERAL    XEILSON's    SPEECH. 

To  the  toast  "  Philadelphia  Typographical  Union" 
Gen.  Wm.  H.  Neilsou,  President  of  No.  2,  responded. 

He  said  that  he  had  been  astounded,  in  the  course 
of  his  interviews  with  employing  printers,  at  the  igno- 
rance many  of  them  displayed  regarding  the  rules  and 
regulations  of  the  Union.  lie  dwelt  upon  the  value 
of  the  Union,  which  recognizes  the  futility  of  strikes, 
as  a  medium  for  placing  employees  upon  an  equality 
and  in  a  position  where  they  may  be  able  to  protect 
themselves  against  the  unscrupulous.  lie  touched  upon 
the  principles  underlying  the  organization,  and  the  effi- 
cacy of  the  ballot  to  redress  the  grievances  of  working- 
men,  and  said, — 

At  the  same  time,  the  workingmen  have  been  de- 
ceived by  concentrating  their  support  upon  candidates 


Birthday  of  George  W.  CJiilds.        353 

for  Congress  who  have  forgotten  their  promises  and 
turned  in  with  corporations  and  monopolies.  Phila- 
delphia is  the  only  city  that  has  ever  produced  a  man 
that  did  seem  properly  to  recognize  what  the  working- 
man  was  worth  and  to  Avhat  he  was  entitled.  When 
the  Typographical  Union  reduced  the  price  of  compo- 
sition from  forty-five  to  forty  cents  per  thousand  ems, 
Mr.  Childs  refused  to  accept  the  reduction.  He  said 
that  he  was  making  money  enough  to  pay  the  old  rate, 
and  he  continued  to  pay  it,  and  has  done  so  until  this 
day.  I  would  to  God  there  more  of  such  men  in  this 
country  ;  then  the  workingmen  would  say,  "  We  are 
perfectly  satisfied  :  we  are  perfectly  contented."' 

SPEECH    OF    CONGRESSMAN    CUMMINGS. 

"  The  Printer  as  a  Journalist"  was  responded  to  in 
an  inimitahle  way  by  Hon.  Amos  J.  Cummings,  of 
New  York,  late  managing  editor  New  York  Sun^  who 
WHS  frequently  interrupted  by  applause.     He  said, — 

Mr.  Chairmax  and  Brothers  of  the  Typograph- 
ical Union, — It  is  with  sincere  pleasure  that  I  join 
you  in  honoring  the  birthday  of  George  W.  Childs. 
You  honor  yourselves  in  honoring  ]Mr.  Childs.  I  honor 
him  for  the  substantial  testimonial  of  his  esteem  for 
Union  printers :  I  honor  him  for  his  manifold  public 
charities;  but  I  honor  him  most  for  his  love  for  his 
fellow-men.  He  is  the  only  man  whom  I  have  ever 
known,  or  of  M'hom  I  have  ever  heard,  who  has  gone 
clear  through  the  Golden  Rule  in  his  love  for  mankind, 
and  landed  on  the  other  side.  He  is  not  only  good,  but 
great — and  all  the  greater  because  he  is  good. 

I  find  that  I  am  to  respond  to  the  toast  of  "  The 

Printer  as  a  Journalist."     I  have  carefully  studied  the 

art  of  speech-making  in  Congress.     The  first  requisite, 

X  3( 


30* 


or 


54  Celebration  of  the 

as  exeinjtlificd  by  our  brother,  Congressman  Iliidd,  of 
Wisconsin,  this  evening,  seems  to  be  a  plentiful  supply 
of  poetry.  The  only  poem  applicable  to  this  occasion 
is  that  beautiful  effusion  of  Clarence  Cook,  written  more 
than  fifty  years  ago,  entitled  "  Abram  and  Zimri."  A 
second  requisite  for  Congressional  speeches  appears  to 
be  a  pile  of  Congressional  Records  as  a  foundation  on 
"vvhich  to  place  a  written  speech.  The  Records,  alas, 
are  not  here,  and  I  must  perforce  enter  upon  my  duty 
without  them. 

The  type-setter  and  proof-reader  become  editors  un- 
consciously. The  evolution  from  the  case  into  editorial 
life  is  as  natural  as  the  evolution  of  a  butterfly  from  a 
chrysalis.  There  is  nothing  marvellous  about  it.  The 
true  typo  will  develop  into  the  true  editor,  if  time  and 
opportunity  serve.  No  careless  or  incompetent  printer 
ever  became  a  competent  editor.  No  plodding  black- 
smith can  ever  become  a  skilled  machinist.  I  have 
seen  many  men  taken  from  the  case  and  thrown  into  an 
editorial  room,  and  all  but  one  became  successful  and 
accomplished  reporters,  editors,  and  correspondents. 

The  one  exception  was  thus  delineated  by  the  tongue 
of  an  old  journeyman  :  ''  I  don't  wonder  that  he  failed 
as  an  editor,  for  he  had  the  dirtiest  proofs  of  any  man 
in  the  office."' 

The  qualities  that  make  a  man  an  efficient  compositor 
are  the  very  qualities  requisite  to  make  him  an  influ- 
ential editor. 

Who  ever  knew  of  a  country  printing-office  that  was 
not  haunted  by  some  quaint  urchin  eager  to  learn  the 
mysteries  of  the  case  ? 

Sometimes  he  is  awkward  and  uncouth.  Oftentimes 
he  is  barefooted.  Frequently  his  hands  are  so  dirty 
that  they  look  like  toads'  backs.  Occasionally  he  has  a 
freckled  face  and  a  red  head.     Again  he  develops  a 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        355 

peculiar  reticence  that  betokens  restlessness  and  am- 
bition. 

Whether  retiring  and  reserved,  or  whether  talkative 
and  full  of  life,  the  printing-office  has  a  peculiar  charm 
for  him. 

You  will  find  him  picking  type  from  the  sweepings 
of  the  office  Avhile  on  his  Avay  to  school.  You  will  see 
him  forcing  an  imprint  from  the  type  upon  the  blank 
pages  of  his  school-books.  The  country  editor  is,  in 
his  eyes,  a  greater  man  than  the  rural  parson.  The 
boy  has  a  longing  look  as  he  gazes  at  the  office.  It  is 
indicative  of  the  one  desire  of  his  heart, — that  of  pre- 
siding over  the  hell-box  and  reaching  the  mighty  and 
exalted  post  of  printer's  devil.  Horace  Greeley  walked 
twelve  miles  through  the  snow  to  Poultney  to  secure 
such  a  place.  Such  boys  are  the  germs  of  editorial 
life.  Watered  by  the  dews  of  opportunity,  and  warmed 
by  the  sun  of  prosperity,  they  eventually  rule  on  the 
editorial  tripod. 

Let  us  see  how  they  are  developed.  The  true  printer's 
devil  is  something  more  than  an  imp.  In  the  fermen- 
tation of  his  nature  he  presents  many  curious  contrasts. 
His  deviltry  may  throw  the  whole  town  into  hysterics, 
but  it  quickly  passes  from  a  physical  to  an  intellectual 
stage.  lie  mounts  a  candle-box  and  learns  the  alpha- 
bet at  the  case.  The  calibre  of  the  boy  is  quickly  seen. 
The  types  have  opened  a  new  world  to  him.  They 
attract  him  by  night  and  by  day.  His  "  stent"  is 
hardly  done  before  he  is  at  work  for  himself.  Fugitive 
sketches  and  local  sarcasms  are  printed  on  slips  and 
circulated  by  his  eager  hands.  He  drinks  in  the  com- 
ments of  his  acquaintances  on  the  emanations  of  his 
brain,  and  is  spurred  to  renewed  effiDrts. 

There  are  probably  few  compositors  within  the  sound 
of  my  voice  who  cannot  recall  some  such  experience. 


356  Celebration  of  tlic 

The  boy  sets  the  town  agog  anew  by  his  intellectual 
efforts.  Gradually  he  becomes  a  journeyman,  lie 
learns  the  art  of  punctuation  and  the  use  of  capital 
letters  and  italics,  lie  unconsciously  develops  a  liter- 
ary taste,  and  becomes  a  critic.  IMie  rules  of  composi- 
tion set  themselves  in  his  mind  without  effort.  Tiie 
marks  of  the  proof-reader  annoy  him,  and  many  a 
wordy  dispute  follows,  but  always  inuring  to  the 
mental  benefit  of  the  typo. 

The  news  of  the  day  is  ever  before  his  eyes,  lie 
gets  it  in  scraps  known  as  "  takes,''  and  these  scraps 
incite  a  thirst  for  information  that  is  only  satiated  by 
a  careful  perusal  of  the  daily  newspapers.  Standard 
works  flow  into  the  editor's  sanctum,  and  magazines 
and  exchanges.  Some  of  them  fall  under  the  eyes  of 
the  apprentice.  lie  may  devote  a  few  of  his  nights  to 
dissipation,  but  there  will  be  much  burning  of  mid- 
night oil.  Dickens,  Bulwer,  Thackeray,  Marryat, 
Cooper,  Scott,  Hawthorne,  and  even  Ned  Buntline 
may  be  digested.  Macaulay,  Rollin,  Gibbon,  Bancroft, 
and  Motley  may  be  read.  The  life  of  Napoleon  and 
Lamartine's  descriptions  of  scenes  in  the  Reign  of 
Terror  will  ever  fascinate  such  young  compositors. 
The  poems  of  Tom  Moore,  Walter  Scott,  Robert  Burns, 
Byron,  Shakespeare,  and  other  great  bards  will  pass 
through  his  mental  hopper.  The  aphorisms  of  Ben 
Franklin  will  radiate  in  his  atmosphere.  While  at 
work  distributing  type  and  correcting  proofs,  he  will 
find  himself  unwittingly  discussing  the  news  of  the 
day  and  entering  into  political  controversies.  If  he 
has  any  originality  in  the  field  of  thought,  it  is  sure  to 
be  developed  and  strengthened  day  by  day,  hour  by 
hour,  minute  by  minute.  He  is  ever  working  in  the 
domain  of  intellectuality,  and  is  ever  drawing  inspira- 
tion from  the  fertility  of  his  surroundings. 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        357 

When  a  journeyman  printer,  his  mind  is  broadened 
anew.  He  deserts  the  home  newspaper  and  wanders 
from  city  to  city.  If  true  to  his  craft,  he  seeks  admis- 
sion to  a  Typographical  Union,  and  in  course  of  time 
gains  a  sure  knowledge  of  the  labor  problem.  He 
verifies  by  travel  what  he  has  read.  His  knowledge  is 
no  longer  theoretical,  but  practical.  He  becomes  self- 
reliant  and  politic  in  his  dealings.  He  gains  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  country  surpassed  only  by  his  knowledge 
of  human  nature.  At  times  he  suffers  penury  and  bitter 
disappointments  ;  but  anon  fortune  gleams  anew  on  his 
pathway,  and,  strengthened  by  his  adversity,  he  again 
lopes  over  the  trail  of  life  with  all  the  freshness  of 

TOUth. 

The  rambling  propensity  dies  away  with  the  weight 
of  years,  and  a  desire  for  the  comforts  of  life  supplants 
it.  The  newspaper  has  not  lost  its  glamour  for  the 
wanderer.  He  is  now  a  seasoned  printer,  with  a 
seasoned  mind,  seasoned  habits,  and  a  seasoned  ambi- 
tion. 

Where  could  a  better  editor  be  found?  Where  one 
more  efficient?  No  school  of  training  could  be  more 
thorough.  All  the  elements  that  make  up  a  great 
editor  have  been  exercised  and  knit  firmly  in  the  hey- 
day of  life.  The  successful  editor  is  the  one  who  col- 
lects the  news  of  the  day  and  presents  it  to  his  readers 
in  the  most  concise  and  attractive  form.  He  must  be 
sure  of  his  facts,  and  he  must  clothe  them  conscien- 
tiously^. But  it  is  essential  that  he  should  know  what 
news  is  before  he  essays  to  collect  it. 

Who  is  there  so  competent  to  select  news  as  the 
careful  compositor, — the  man  who  has  been  sifting  it 
all  his  life?  Who  is  so  able  to  satisfy  the  newspaper 
demands  of  the  people?  He  has  been  among  them 
and  of  them  in  his  wanderings,  and  in  his  character  as 


358  Celebration  of  the 

editor  he  is  still  of  and  among  tliem.  He  moulds  his 
editorial  expression  of  thought  from  an  experience 
born  from  a  direct  association  with  those  interested. 
lie  speaks  by  the  card  alone.  His  ticket  to  newspaper 
prosperity  is  unpunched  by  collegiate  education,  but  it 
is  a  ticket  readily  recognized  by  the  people,  and  one 
that  frequently  passes  its  owner  into  the  realm  of 
wealth  and  the  fiine  of  fame.  The  born  printer,  Mr. 
Chairman,  is  the  born  editor. 

Some  say  that  a  new  era  is  dawning  in  journalism  -, 
that  men  educated  in  collegiate  schools  are  assuming 
the  helm  ;  that  aesthetic  methods  are  to  be  applied  to 
the  columns  of  the  new  newspapers  dotting  the  land 
like  mushrooms  in  a  sheep  pasture  ;  that  a  web  of 
newspaper  trusts  is  to  cover  the  country  and  secure  the 
patronage  of  the  people,  and  that  all  the  old  journals 
must  follow  suit  or  go  to  the  wall. 

All  this  may  go  for  what  it  is  worth.  The  past 
shows  that  the  people  have  recognized  the  printing- 
office  as  the  true  school  of  journalism,  and  I  fancy  that 
it  will  hold  good  in  the  future  and  as  long  as  a  Typo- 
graphical Union  lives  and  flourishes  on  the  free  soil  of 
this  Republic. 

"  pressmen's    UNION",  NO.  4," 

the  next  toast,  was  responded  to  by  Charles  W.  Miller, 
who  said, — 

When  the  International  Typographical  Union  began 
its  work  of  organizing  the  pressmen  into  separate 
bodies,  it  seems  to  me,  they  must  have  been  convinced 
that  we  were  rapidly  drifting  towards  what  might  be 
termed  an  age  of  specialties,  and  that  such  were  the 
multiplied  devices  of  human  genius  that  success  was 
now  to  be  attained  in  almost  any  enterprise  or  pursuit 
of  an  honorable  character. 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        359 

The  printers  of  to-day  are  more  distinctly  divided 
into  two  classes  than  in  former  times, — that  is  to  say, 
they  ranked  as  compositors  and  pressmen,  known  to 
the  mass  of  the  people  simply  as  printers,  but  still 
quite  distinct  in  their  labors.  Each  has  a  well-defined 
line  of  operation  to  pursue,  although  the  art  of  print- 
ing cannot  be  developed  without  due  attention  to  both, 
nor  excellency  attained  in  either  without  the  skilful 
manipulation  of  types  and  the  intelligent  management 
of  presses,  which  in  the  hands  of  pressmen  clearly 
define  the  '*  rules"  and  make  ''  impressions"  that  are 
in  keeping  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  times  in  which 
we  live. 

As  is  well  known,  our  branch  of  typography  has  its 
local  organizations,  but  we  are  all  subordinate  to  one 
spirit  prevailing  over  all,  because  there  is  one  object  in 
view, — the  happy  result  and  development  of  individual 
labor.  For  it  is  a  fact  that  when  one  spirit  has  infused 
itself  into  other  spirits  and  there  is  one  spirit  pervading 
all,  then  the  best  results  are  accomplished.  Unity  is 
that  power  which,  like  a  subtle  force  streaming  from 
mind  to  mind,  produces  harmony  of  thought  and  action. 
It  is  a  silver  cord  thrown  by  one  member  around  an- 
other so  as  to  bind  the  two  together.  It  is  an  influence 
which  clothes  the  feeblest  arm  with  strength. 

Pressmen's  Union,  No.  4,  is  largely  composed  of 
competent  pressmen, — such  pressmen  as  are  found  in 
Philadelphia,  the  home  of  George  W.  Childs, — press- 
men who  appreciate  the  blessed  results  of  unity  ;  press- 
men, the  light  from  whose  presses  flashes  in  all  direc- 
tions ;  pressmen  who  possess  the  ability  so  to  ornament 
the  pages  of  a  book  that  they  become  as  pleasing  and 
attractive  to  the  eye  as  the  contents  are  interesting  to 
the  mind  and  heart;  pressmen  to  whose  care  is  com- 
mitted machinery  of  intricate  and  costly  workmanship. 


360  Celebration  of  the 

And  still  the  pressman  is  a  co-operator  with  the 
compositor  in  joint  eiForts  to  promote  the  same  end. 
If  we  had  type,  but  no  presses,  of  what  avail  are  they 
to  any  considerable  extent?  If  we  had  presses  in 
abundance,  but  no  type,  nor  intelligent  compositors  to 
set  the  same  in  order,  where  the  pressman's  calling? 
An  editor  writes  hurried  lines;  they  are  given  to  the 
compositor;  by  him  transmitted  to  the  pressman;  in 
the  morning  the  sheets  fly  abroad  ;  before  night  they 
have  carried  their  weight  of  influence  over  space 
enough  for  an  empire.  Neither  the  editor,  compositor, 
nor  pressman  is  visible  to  the  multitudes;  but  from 
the  pen  that  writes  a  volume  and  the  press  that  sends 
it  forth  to  the  world  there  flows  a  current  of  intellectual 
power  that  can  shape  the  aff'airs  of  a  nation.  As  the 
sun  is  not  conscious  of  the  overflowing  light  which  he 
pours  upon  the  world,  so  the  pressman  is  not  aware  of 
the  widely  extended  influence  of  his  work.  But  he  is 
always  making  "  impressions''  while  fulfilling  his  daily 
task.  Again,  as  the  light  of  the  sun  is  not  the  least 
abated  by  shining  upon  two  continents  instead  of  one, 
so  the  work  of  a  pressman  will  be  admired  and  ap- 
preciated in  any  part  of  the  globe  where  there  are  in- 
telligent minds,  with  hearts  to  feel  and  eyes  to  read. 

I  referred  a  few  moments  ago  to  the  happy  results 
of  union  in  the  development  of  individual  labor.  Let 
me  say  that  there  is  at  this  day  no  brighter  example 
of  the  happy  results  of  a  steady  aim  and  singleness  of 
purpose  than  that  afforded  by  the  life  and  beneficent 
acts  of  George  W.  Childs.  To  him,  as  a  Philadelphian, 
we  maj'  point  with  just  pride.  He  is  the  printer's  un- 
wavering friend,  and  yet  the  unselfish  advocate  and 
helper  of  all  pursuits  that  have  a  tendency  to  elevate 
the  human  race.  Over  and  over  again  I  say,  honor  to 
the  name  and  praise  to  the  deeds  of  George  W.  Childs  h 


Birthdmj  of  George  W.  Childs.        361 


"the  childs-drexel  fund" 

was  ably  responded  to  Ly  Mr.  August  Donath,  one  of 
the  trustees  of  that  fund,  who,  in  the  course  of  his  re- 
marks, said, — 

One  thing  the  Pittel)urgh  convention  did  not  expect 
was  the  ten-thousand-doUar  gift.  The  confidence  re- 
posed  in  the  I.  T.  U.  and  the  craft,  which  was  implied 
by  that  gift,  was  keenly  appreciated  all  over  the  land. 
That  confidence  kept  inviolate,  and  the  fund  increased 
in  so  graceful  a  manner,  made  all  the  Union  printers 
feel  proud  of  their  profession.  It  was  a  token  of  good- 
will and  encouragement  to  workino-men. 

"the  phlladelphia  tvpographical  society" 

was  responded  to  by  Mr.  William  C.  Bleloch,  who 
said, — 

The  Philadelphia  Typographical  Society  is  the 
printers'  beneficial  society,  organized  in  1803  for  the 
purpose  of  relieving  distress  among  its  members  and 
their  families,  occasioned  by  sickness  and  death.  From 
the  date  of  organization  to  the  present  time — a  period 
of  eighty-five  years — it  has  not  failed  in  its  sacred 
mission.  The  sick  have  been  visited,  the  dead  buried, 
and  the  widows  and  orphans  cared  for,  to  the  best 
alility  of  the  officers  in  charge,  and  to  the  greatest  ex- 
tent that  the  limited  means  at  their  disposal  would 
permit. 

Its  active  membership  has  at  all  times  included  the 
best  men  of  the  crafc  in  Philadelphia ;  and  among  its 
honorary  members  have  been  many  who,  as  printers, 
publishers,  and  autiiors,  have  shed  lustre  upon  their 
several  callings,  and  dignified  and  honored  the  Society 
by  their  membership.  Among  these  names,  enrolled 
Q  31 


362  Celebration  of  the 

in  18G7,  is  that  of  George  W.  OliilJs,  who,  at  th.it  early 
date,  had  endeared  himself  to  the  printing  fraternity 
as  a  just  and  liberal  employer,  and  a  kind-hearted, 
charitable  man. 

In  October,  1868,  Mr.  Childs  donated  to  the  Society, 
without  restriction  or  incumbrance,  a  large  and  beauti- 
fully enclosed  lot  in  the  Woodlands  Cemetery,  valued 
at  eight  thousand  dollars,  as  a  Printers'  Cemetery. 
Tliis  noble  benefaction — free  to  all  printers — excited 
the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  country.  It  was 
gratefully  received  by  the  Society,  and  has  frequently 
been  used  for  the  purpose  intended.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  all  expenses  connected  with  its  keeping  have  been 
defrayed  by  its  generous  donor;  and  in  addition,  hun- 
dreds of  dollars  have  been  contributed  by  him  to  the 
Society's  general  relief  work. 

The  incident  referred  to  by  General  Neilson  is  an- 
other instance  of  Mr.  Childs's  continuous  generosity. 
He  not  only  knows  how  to  do  a  good  thing,  but  he 
does  not  weary  in  well-doing.  Taking  an  average  com- 
positor's day's  Avork,  the  money  paid  by  him  to  the 
Ledger  compositors,  over  and  above  the  Union  scale  of 
prices,  amounts  to  the  large  sum  of  over  ten  thousand 
dollars  per  annum,  and  this  has  been  going  on  un- 
grudgingly for  twelve  years.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
the  piinters  of  Philadelphia  and  the  country  love  and 
esteem  such  a  man  ? 

As  disciples  of  Franklin,  we  must  also  thank  George 
W.  Childs  for  displaying  in  front  of  the  Public  Ledger 
building  the  only  statue  of  the  Printer-Philosopher  of 
which  Philadelphia  can  boast. 

To  quote  the  elegant  language  of  the  late  Chief 
Justice  Ellis  Lewis  (an  old  printer),  "  Mr.  Childs  has 
planted  himself  in  the  human  heart,  and  there  he  will 
have  his  habitation  while  man  shall  dwell  upon  earth. 


Blrthdaij  of  George  ]V.  Cldlds.         363 

He  has  built  liis  monument  upon  the  broad  base  of 
universal  benevolence  ;  its  superstructure  is  composed 
of  good  and  noble  deeds :  its  spire  is  the  love  of  God, 
and  points  to  Heaven." 

He  stands  out  among  men — 

**  Like  some  tall  cliff,  tliat  lifts  its  awful  form, 
Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm  ; 
Though  round  its  base  the  rolling  clouds  may  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 

"  THE    UNION    PRINTER." 

The  address  of  Mr.  George  Chance,  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Record^  and  late  President  of  Typographical  Union, 
in  answer  to  the  toast  "  The  Union  Printer,"  was 
probably  the  most  humorous  and  entertaining  of  the 
evening.     He  said, — 

^Ir.  Chairman, — I  hardly  know  how  to  respond  to 
the  sentiment  just  given  without,  to  a  certain  extent, 
appearing  in  the  light  of  praising  myself  as  well  as 
those  around  me.  "  The  Union  Printer"  may  be  viewed 
from  two  stand-points.  The  employer  who  desires  to 
buy  his  labor  in  the  cheapest  market  can  see  nothing 
in  him  that  is  commendable  or  necessary.  He  sees 
only  a  man  who  bands  himself  with  others  of  a  like 
ilk  to  control  his  employer's  business  ;  who,  by  joining 
a  Union,  commits  an  act  which  is  destructive  of  the 
individual  freedom  of  the  workman  by  taking  away 
from  him  the  natural  right  to  the  control  of  his  labor. 
Of  course,  the  non-Union  employing  printer  recognizes 
and  praises  the  freedom  of  action  which  allows  him 
to  dictate  terms  to  each  person  he  employs.  He  soon 
finds  the  weakness  and  necessities  of  each,  and  gener- 
ally uses  his  knowledge  for  all  it  is  worth.  The  Union 
employer  views   "The  Union  Printer"  in  a  different 


364  Celebration  of  the 

light.  lie  recognizes  the  right  of  his  employees  to  a 
voice  in  regulating  the  price  of  their  labor.  They  meet 
and  agree  upon  a  scale  of  wages,  which  the  employer 
pays  willingly.  In  return  the  Union  printer  gives  his 
best  recompense  in  the  way  of  honest  work.  He  is 
ever  watchful  of  his  duty  to  his  employer,  and  equally 
vigilant  over  his  own  rights.  He  is  true  not  only  to 
himself  but  to  his  fellow-unionists  in  all  that  the  word 
implies,  lie  is  a  necessit}'^  in  every  community.  By 
his  unionism  he  secures  tlie  nearest  approach  to  that 
text  w4iich  says,  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire." 
By  his  unionism  he  helps  to  make  the  State  and  Nation 
prosperous.  A  city  or  State  may  be  wealthy  and 
powerful  while  its  people  may  be  poor  and  unhappy. 
It  is  part  of  the  duty  of  the  Union  printer  to  see  that 
the  people  partake  of  the  general  prosperity.  He 
believes  in  principles  before  men,  and  would  make  any 
sacrifice  to  preserve  his  connection  with  the  Union. 
He  is  a  believer  in  the  rights  of  man  ;  believes  that  his 
handicraft  should  receive  the  highest  possible  reward, 
and  that  he  has  the  right,  by  organization,  to  obtain 
what  he  could  not  get  singly, — a  just  recompense  for 
his  labor. 

Mr.  Chance  facetiously  alluded  to  the  ability  of  the 
printer  to  edit  a  newspaper  far  better  than  the  man- 
aging editor,  to  make  the  local  column  more  interest- 
ing than  the  city  editor,  and  to  a  knowledge  of  finance 
superior  to  that  of  the  editor  in  charge  of  the  financial 
column.  He  was  surprised  that  any  good  Union  printer, 
with  all  these  bright  prospects  before  him,  should  ever 
descend  to  go  to  Congress. 

It  might  be  true,  as  Junius  Henri  Browme  suggested, 
that  "  printers  do  not  keep  all  the  commandments  ;" 
but,  in  all  seriousness,  the  Union  printer  is  an  honor- 
able man.  who  believes  in  doing  right  by  his  employer 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        365 

and  living  up  to  those  principles  of  loyalty  which  his 
Union  instilled  into  his  mind. 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Farquhar  has  stated  that,  thirty-seven 
years  ago,  the  Typographical  Union  was  organized  in 
New  York.  I  have  in  my  possession  a  copy  of  a  con- 
stitution of  the  Philadelphia  Typographical  Union,  or- 
ganized in  1850,  and  the  President  of  that  Union  still 
lives  in  this  city,  and,  although  unable  to  make  his 
living  by  the  pursuit  of  his  trade,  he  has  been  placed 
by  Mr.  Childs  in  a  position  where  he  will  never  want. 

[Mr.  Chance  referred  to  John  L,  Henderson,  one  of 
the  oldest  Ledger  compositors,  who  has  been  retired 
many  years  by  Mr.  Childs  on  full  pay.] 

There  was  an  employer  who,  in  the  goodness  of  his 
heart,  sent  five  thousand  dollars  to  the  International 
Typographical  Union.  There  was  another  who  did  the 
same.  Never  were  printers  more  taken  by  surprise. 
At  Pittsburgh  it  was  made  possible  to  meet  here  to- 
night, and  on  successive  twelfths  of  May  to  commemo- 
rate the  gift  of  this  gentleman,  and,  when  he  shall  have 
passed  away,  for  the  Union  printers  to  erect  a  monu- 
ment to  his  memorv.  A  monument  whose  foundation 
would  be  built  on  strong  man's  love  :  the  shaft  of 
which  would  be  stronger  than  steel  and  more  lasting 
than  brass  :  whose  polished  sides  would  be  inlaid  with 
diamonds  and  pearls, — the  diamonds  representing 
widows'  grateful  tears ;  the  pearls,  orplians'  prayers 
offered  up  in  grateful  thanks  for  the  good  deeds  done 
by  this  man  during  his  life. 

JOEL    cook's    speech. 

In  a  pleasant  way,  Mr.  Joel  Cook  responded  to  "  The 
Press,"  and  paid  his  compliments  to  the  Congressjnen 
and  the  printers.  "  Although  the  editors  and  the 
printers   differ  about   many   things,   they   can    shake 

01- 


^(j6  Cdebraiion  of  the 

hands  over  the  chasm  of  one  thing,  and  that  is  the 
annihihition  of  the  proof-reader." 

When  the  laughter  following  this  pleasantry  had 
subsided,  Mr.  Cook  turned  his  attention  to  the  New 
York  Sun,  for  which  the  obituary  poetry  of  tlie  Ledget^ 
had  a  peculiar  ftiscination.  "  One  great  redeeming 
trait  of  that  paper,  however,  is  that  it  always  gives 
credit  to  the  journal  from  which  it  makes  extracts.  In 
pursuing  this  policy  it  charged  Mr.  ChiUls  with  putting 
this  poetry  in  the  paper.  In  this  it  made  a  mistake, 
for  the  man  who  really  did  it  was  'Jim'  Dailey,  the 
foreman."' 

Growing  serious,  Mr.  Cook  said, — 

My  recollection  of  the  gentleman  who  is  being  hon- 
ored by  this  banquet  dates  back  to  boyhood.  To  use  a 
quoted  expression,  Mr.  Childs  is  "  an  Israelite  without 
guile."  The  thing  in  him  that  is  plainest  to  me  is  that 
there  is  less  of  evil  in  him  than  in  any  man  I  ever  knew. 
No  man  can  say  that  he  went  to  him  wnth  a  tale  of  true 
sorrow  and  came  away  empty-handed.  He  overlooks 
our  shortcomings  in  the  Ledger  office,  and  many  of  us 
have  done  that  which  might  be  cause  for  dismissal  from 
other  establishments.  But  we  are  all  there,  still  serv- 
ing, because  he  could  not  frame  his  lips  to  say  the  word 
that  would  cause  our  departure. 

Mr.  Cook  then  seconded  a  suggestion  of  Mr.  Munday 
that,  if  Mr.  Childs  could  preside  so  well  over  the  Ledger 
office,  he  could  preside  equally  well  over  the  nation. 
He  spoke  of  Mr.  Childs's  pronounced  and  outspoken 
views  on  the  labor  question,  and  said  that  he  recog- 
nized the  value  of  organization,  and  the  recompense 
of  honest  toil,  believing  that  to  be  the  very  foundation- 
stone  upon  which  the  nation  rests.  Mr.  Cook  touched 
upon  the  International  Union,  which  he  regarded  as 
the  greatest  labor  organization  on  the  face  of  the  globe, 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        367 

and  urged  that,  by  wise  counsel  and  adherence  to  honest 
principles,  it  might  continue  doing  a  beneficent  work 
for  the  whole  country. 

CONGRESSMAN    JAMES    g'dONNELL, 

of  Michigan,  was  the  next  speaker,  but,  owing  to  the 
lateness  of  the  hour,  his  remarks  were  brief.  He  was 
received  witii  a  very  hearty  demonstration  of  regard. 
He  said  that,  a  long  time  ago,  when  he  was  contem- 
plating the  number  of  railroad  ties  between  his  West- 
ern home  and  Philadelphia,  he  sent  ahead  of  him  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  Public  Ledger^  asking  employ- 
ment. The  letter  had  not  been  answered  to  date,  but 
he  had  no  complaints  to  make.  Mr.  O'Donnell  enter- 
tained his  hearers  with  some  humorous  suggestions, 
and  then  passed  to  the  honored  guest  of  the  evening. 
"Have  you  ever  thought,"  he  asked,  "of  the  chaplet 
above  in  reward  for  the  good  deeds  that  he  has  done?"' 
He  then  passed  rapidly  over  what  he  regarded  as  note- 
worthy points  in  Mr.  Childs's  career,  and  closed  with 
a  reference  to  the  flag  of  the  Union  and  to  the  typical 
flag  of  strength  in  the  Union,  the  flag  of  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union.  Mr.  O'Donnell  said  that 
it  had  been  the  intention  of  the  printer-Congressmen 
and  the  other  visiting  ex-printers  to  go  to  some  office 
in  the  evening  and  set  up  a  thousand  ems  as  a  contri- 
bution to  the  Childs-Drexel  Fund.  Owing  to  the  late- 
ness of  the  hour,  however,  they  would  not  be  able  to 
fulfil  the  intention.  The  spirit  of  the  suggestion  was 
warmly  applauded.* 


*  Mr.  O'Donnell  and  his  printer  colleagues,  eight  in  all,  after 
their  return  to  AVashington,  on  May  19,  did  set  up  one  thousand 
ems  each,  and  handed  the  amount  to  Mr.  August  Donath,  one 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  Childs-Drexel  Fund,  who  forwarded  it 
to  Treasurer  Dailey. 


3()8  Celebration  of  the 

CONGRESSMAN    JOHN    NICHOLS, 

of  Nortli  Carolina,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Beautiful  deeds,  like  beautiful  thoughts,  whether  in- 
scribed on  the  printed  page,  or  transferred  to  the  artist's 
canvas  by  the  hand  of  genius,  will  live  forever. 

It  is  not  the  most  bountiful  benefactions  nor  the 
grandest  displays  of  honor  or  admiration  that  make  the 
most  pleasing  and  lasting  impressions  on  the  human 
mind.  It  is  the  spirit,  the  manner,  and  the  motive  that 
actuated  their  performance. 

The  assemblage  here  this  evening  is  for  the  purpose 
of  doing  honor,  in  a  humble  way,  to  one  of  our  most 
distinguished  and  most  honored  citizens. 

But  nothing  that  we  can  do,  nothing  that  we  can  say, 
will  add  a  single  laurel  to  his  crown  or  make  him  more 
honored  in  the  estimation  of  the  American  people.  It 
would  be  like  an  effort  to  paint  the  rainbow  or  to  gild 
the  beams  of  a  noonday  sun.  He  stands  forth  without 
a  rival  as  the  great  American  editor. 

There  is  nothing  that  discloses  real  character  more 
thoroughly  than  the  grand  position  of  editor  of  an 
influential  public  journal.  Perhaps  there  is  not  an 
instance  in  the  history  of  journalism  in  this  country 
where  self  has  been  so  thoroughly  subordinated  to  the 
public  welfare  and  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-man  as 
has  been  exhibited  in  the  person  of  the  gentleman  who 
does  us  all  honor  by  his  presence  this  evening. 

It  is  easy  for  the  weak  to  be  gentle.  Most  people 
can  bear  adversity.  But  if  you  wish  to  know  what  a 
man  really  is,  give  him  power  and  influence.  This  is 
the  supreme  test. 

Your  distinguished  guest  occupies  a  position  to-day 
far  more  honorable  than  if  he  sat  in  the  highest  councils 
of  his  country,  and  can  and  does  wdeld  more  influence 
than  the  bedecked  marshal  of  a  nation. 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        369 

One  of  the  highest  compliments  ever  paid  an  editor 
is  contained  in  a  single  line.  A  contemporary,  speak- 
ing of  the  newspaper  over  vrhich  your  honored  guest 
presides  with  such  distinguished  ability, .says,  "Noth- 
ing false  is  printed  in  the  Ledger.'^ 

While  no  compliments  that  we  can  bestow,  no  honors 
we  can  confer,  will  elevate  him  in  the  estimation  of 
his  countrymen,  yet  this  large  and  intelligent  gather- 
ing of  American  printers  is  not  an  unmeaning  occasion. 
It  is  to  do  honor  and  manifest  our  appreciation  of  his 
worth  as  a  citizen  and  a  journalist,  and  to  pay  homage, 
if  that  be  the  correct  expression,  to  the  great  printer- 
philanthropist. 

It  is  with  that  spirit  that  I  accepted  your  kind  invi- 
tation to  be  with  you  this  evening,  and  I  thank  the 
Committee  on  Invitations  for  the  opportunity  of  being 
present. 

This  meeting,  as  I  understand  it,  is  one  of  Ex- 
Delegates  to  the  International  Typographical  Union. 
Strictly  speaking,  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  claim  that 
distin2;uished  designation.  In  1861  I  had  the  honor 
of  being  elected  a  delegate  to  the  National  Union  by 
Raleigh  (N.  C.)  Typographical  Union,  No.  54,  of  which 
I  was  then  an  active,  and  of  which  I  am  now  an  hon- 
orary member. 

It  will  be  remembered,  however,  that  about  that  time 
there  was  a  strike  on  the  south  side  of  the  Potomac, 
and  the  furm  of  the  Union  was  slightly  p/e^.  A  press 
of  circumstances  rendered  useless  for  a  while  all  the 
implements  known  to  the  profession,  except  the  shoot- 
iiKj-sticJc.  With  positive  instructions  to  follow  copy,  in- 
stead of  going  to  the  National  Union,  I  Avent  elsewhere. 

This  change  of  situation  did  not  secure  any  very  fat 
iakes,  but  as  we  were  on  by  time,  and  not  by  tha piece, 
no  question  was  raised  about  pay. 
3/ 


370  Celebration  of  the 

During  the  conflict  that  resulted  from  this  ill-advised 
and  unfortunate  strike,  which  we  now  look  back  upon 
with  emotions  of  wonder  and  astonishment,  there  were 
many  columns  of  live  matter  knocked  into  pi,  and  some 
of  the  best  ti/jies  of  livinf<;  manhood  wholly  destroyed. 

After  a  long  and  fearful  struggle,  however,  the  form 
of  the  Union  was  reset  and  stereotyped,  and  an  impres- 
sion made  on  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  that 
time  can  never  blot  or  obliterate. 

Now,  with  duty  plainer,  let  us  stand  up  to  the  rack, 
and  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  upbuild  the  waste  places 
of  our  country,  but  press  on  in  setting  good  examples 
to  the  world,  and  present  clean  proofs  that  henceforth 
and  forever  we  are  solid  for  the  American  Union. 

CONGRESSMAN    ROBERT    J.    VANCE, 

of  Connecticut,  was  then  introduced.  After  telling  a 
story,  he  said  that  in  his  rounds  during  the  day  he  had 
seen  the  statue  of  one  of  the  first  American  printers  in 
front  of  the  Ledger  building.  That  printer  came  from 
New  England.  His  name  was  Franklin,  and  he  had  a 
loaf  of  bread  with  him.  "The  only  fi^ult  that  I  have 
to  find  with  the  statue  of  this  printer,"  said  Mr.  Vance, 
"is  that  it  does  not  represent  the  original  with  a  loaf 
of  bread  under  his  arm." 

Growing  earnest,  ]Mr.  Vance  said  that  if  there  were 
any  among  historic  men  who  had  won  fame,  they  were 
George  Peabody,  Peter  Cooper,  and  George  W.  Childs. 
Peabody  scattered  his  money  abroad  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind  ;  Cooper  invested  in  monuments  in  New 
York  5  and  Childs  constructed  monuments  in  this  city. 

The  last  was  the  greatest  of  all  philanthropists.  His 
every  impulse  was  good.  There  were  none  of  the 
vile  ingredients  in  him.  He  was  "  a  man,  take  him  all 
in  all." 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        371 

REMARKS    BY    MAJOR    J.  J.  XOAH. 

"  The  Printer  as  a  Washington  Correspondent"  was 
the  next  toast  proposed,  and  Major  Jacob  J.  Noah, 
Washington  correspondent  of  the  Denver  Netcs  and 
Kansas  City  Times,  was  called  upon  to  respond.  Major 
Noah  said, — 

He  deemed  it  a  high  privilege  to  be  present  on  this 
occasion,  and  join  with  his  fellow-craftsmen  in  doing 
honor  to  that  eminent  citizen  and  philanthropist,  George 
W.  Childs,  whose  name  was  a  sjnonyme  throughout  the 
civilized  world  for  all  that  was  upright,  honorable,  and 
beneficent.  The  orbit  of  his  good  deeds  had  not  been 
restricted  to  the  limits  of  his  own  country,  but  his 
name  was  justly  honored  among  the  men  of  other 
lands.  While  all  that  he  is  and  all  that  he  possesses 
were  the  legitimate  fruits  of  his  own  indomitable 
energy  and  illimitable  enterprise,  yet  had  he  always 
reached  out  the  helping  hand  to  the  needy,  and,  to  the 
extent  of  more  than  his  ability,  relieved  the  distresses 
of  his  fellow-man.  That  this  had  been  the  great 
pleasure  and  solace  of  his  busy  life  was  more  than 
apparent.  The  quality  of  his  long  line  of  mercies  had 
not  been  strained,  for  truly  had  it  "  blessed  him  that 
gives  and  him  that  takes,"  and  Shakespeare's  tribute 
to  Mercy's  great  virtues  found  substantial  echo  in  the 
hearts  of  the  sturdy  members  of  the  Typographical 
and  Pressmen's  Unions,  and  the  many  friends  gathered 
here  to  honor  and  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  his 
birth. 

Mnjor  Noah  stated  that  when  he  called  upon  Mr. 
Childs  that  morning  and  was  presented  by  his  friend 
and  colleague.  Major  John  M.  Carson,  his  hand  was 
grasped  and  he  received  warm  welcome.  "  I  knew 
your  father  before  you,"  said  Mr.  Childs.     "He  was 


372  Celebration  of  the 

the  leading  editor  of  his  day  and  time,  and,  I  think, 
was  born  in  Phih'idelphia." 

Major  Noah  added  that  he  "was  taken  by  surprise, 
from  the  fact  that  thirty-seven  years  had  passed  since 
the  death  of  his  father,  the  late  Mordecai  M.  Noah. 
lie  was  dead,  but  evidently  not  forgotten.  The  fact 
was  then  recalled  that  Messrs.  Swain,  Abell,  and  Sim- 
mons, the  original  founders  of  the  Philadelphia  Ledger, 
worked  as  journeyman  printers  in  his  father's  news- 
paper office  at  New  York,  in  the  halcyon  days  of  the 
"  sixpenny  press,"  and  that  their  subsequent  successes 
in  establishing  the  "  penny  press"  had  been  a  measure 
of  great  satisfaction  to  their  old  employer. 

Major  Noah  then  narrated  various  interesting  remi- 
niscences of  leading  journalists  who  were  at  the  fore 
when  he  first  came  upon  the  newspaper  scene,  among 
them  James  Watson  AVebb,  James  Gordon  Bennett,  Sr., 
William  L.  Stone,  Horace  Greeley,  Park  Benjamin, 
Nathaniel  P.  AVillis,  Gen.  George  P.  Morris,  Evert  A. 
Duyckinck,  Cornelius  Mathews,  Casper  C.  Childs, 
Thaddeus  W.  Meighan,  Henry  J.  Raymond,  Charles 
A.  Dana,  David  M.  Stone,  and  others. 

He  closed  his  remarks  by  observing  that  George  W. 
Childs  was  worthy  the  title  given  the  late  Gen.  George 
H.  Thomas  by  Col.  H.  M.  Duffield,  the  orator  at  the 
late  reunion  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  "  omnium 
gentium  facile  princeps.''''  Thomas,  as  a  soldier,  was 
of  all  soldiers  the  "  recognized  chief."  George  W. 
Childs,  as  citizen  and  philanthropist,  was  of  all  citizens 
equally  the  "recognized  chief." 

REMARKS    BY    MAJOR    JOHN    M.  CARSON. 

When  the  applause  ceased  which  followed  the  con- 
clusion of  Major  Noah's  remarks,  Major  John  M.  Car- 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Chllds.        373 

son,  Chief  of  the  Public  Ledge?'  Bureau  at  Washington, 
was  called  upon. 

He  said  it  was  a  peculiar  gratification  to  him  that  he 
could  claim  membership  with  the  fraternity  represented 
upon  this  occasion.  The  men  present  to-night  did  not 
receive  a  parchment  certificate  when  they  were  gradu- 
ated, yet  they  were  constituents  of  alumni  in  whose 
ranks  have  been  found  many  men  of  the  highest  intel- 
lectual force,  of  great  moral  worth,  and  great  practical 
usefulness.  In  none  of  the  vocations  could  there  be 
found  a  greater  degree  of  intelligence  than  was  found 
among  printers,  and  to  that  fact  might  be  ascribed 
their  strength  and  their  influence  when  united.  No 
other  vocation  could  send  forth  a  class  of  representa- 
tives such  as  were  here  to-night,  every  one  of  whom 
had  started  in  life  as  a  journeyman  printer.  The 
printing-office  was  a  continuation  of  the  public  school, 
and  its  opportunities  rightfully  improved  almost  in- 
variably led  men  to  higher  walks  of  usefulness  and 
kept  its  graduates  untainted  by  those  meretricious 
influences  that  so  often  attended  and  remained  with 
graduates  of  colleges. 

There  were  present  to-night  gentlemen  who  had 
reached  the  halls  of  Congress  through  the  printing- 
office.  They  were  among  the  most  able  and  useful  men 
in  that  body,  and  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  knowl- 
edge and  experience  acquired  in  the  printing-office  had 
mainly  contributed  to  their  success  in  life. 

Many  years  ago,  when  working  at  "case"  in  this 
city  as  an  apprentice,  with  James  J.  Dailey  occupying 
an  adjoining ''  alley,"  and  Joel  Cook  learning  to  set  type 
with  the  aid  of  a  discarded  "  font,"  he  did  not  dream 
he  would  ever  be  associated  with  those  two  boys  on  the 
Public  Ledrjer,  which  was  then,  as  it  now  is,  the  repre- 
eentative  newspaper  of  the  city  and  State. 

32 


374  Celebration  of  the 

Referring  to  the  special  object  of"  the  gathering  to- 
night, Major  Carson  said  he  was  particularly  delighted 
at  the  privilege  of  joining  the  Association  in  doing 
honor  to  George  W.  Childs.  There  was  a  comprehen- 
siveness and  sii^nificance  in  the  irathering  which  was 
only  limited  by  the  boundaries  of  the  American  conti- 
nent; which  represented  and  which  reached  to  the 
very  bottom  of  the  hearts  of  men  who  labor  ;  which 
commanded  the  admiration  and  approval  of  the  friends 
of  those  who  labor,  and  which  was  an  enigma  to  that 
selfish  and  merciless  class  of  men  who  use  their  fellows 
only  to  ]iromote  their  own  personal  aims  and  ambitions. 
It  must  be  a  gratifying  reflection  to  Mr.  Childs  that 
he  has  Avon  not  alone  the  love  of  those  with  whom  he 
has  been  brought  in  frequent  personal  contact,  and  the 
gratitude  of  the  many  who  have  been  relieved  by  his 
charity  and  gladdened  by  his  liberality,  but  the  esteem 
and  good-will  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  AVas 
it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  American  people,  coming 
to  know  this  man  through  his  unselfish  and  benevolent 
works, — tired  of  the  hypocrisy  of  political  parties, 
the  masquerading  of  partisan  propagandists,  and  the 
treachery  of  partisan  leaders, — should  naturally  turn 
to  and  ask  him  to  become  their  ruler  as  well  as  their 
guide  and  friend? 

"And  yet,"  continued  Major  Carson,  with  earnest- 
ness, "this  simple  citizen,  this  unostentatious  man, 
who  has  won  the  hearts  of  the  people  by  kind  acts,  has 
recently  given  an  exhibition  of  self-abnegation,  an 
illustration  of  patriotic  fervor,  an  example  of  sublime 
courage  that  has  excited  public  wonder,  and  challenged 
universal  respect ;  he  has  positively,  deliberately  re- 
fused to  be  even  considered  in  connection  with  the 
bestowal  of  the  highest  reward  that  can  come  from  a 
free  people,  and  the   most  honorable  office  that  can 


Birthday  of  George  W.  ChiMs.        375 

be  conferred  upon  mortal  m;in, — in  short,  Georire  W, 
Childs  has  refused  to  become  President  of  the  United 
States. 

"  The  horde  of  speculating  politicians  who  fasten 
themselves  upon  successful  parties,  \\'ith  ravenous 
appetites  for  distinction  and  provender;  who,  like  Bj- 
Ends,  in  '  Pilgrim's  Progress,'  followed  Religio'n  for 
the  silver  slippers  she  wore,  affect  to  make  light  of  the 
spontaneous  popular  movement  which  manifested  itself 
for  Mr.  Childs.  It  is  not  the  first  time  that  camp- 
followers  were  mistaken  in  the  real  purpose  of  those 
who  move  grand  armies  in  the  field,  and  grander  armies 
in  the  realm  of  healthful  thought.  This  movement 
was  not  superficial  and  ephemeral ;  it  was  deep  and 
deliberate  and  earnest,  and  was  frustrated  only  by  Mr. 
Childs's  honest  determination  and  direct  outspoken 
refusal. 

"  My  position  in  Washington  affords  opportunities 
for  meeting  representative  men,  and  studying  popular 
sentiment  on  national  questions,  and  my  observation 
has  enabled  me  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  extent  and 
sincerity  of  the  movement  for  Mr.  Childs,  among  the 
representative  men  of  the  whole  country  and  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  to-night  by  different  speakers. 
To  show  its  extent  and  sincerity,  let  me  say  that' the 
publisher  of  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  influential 
Democratic  daily  newspapers  in  the  East  begged  Mr. 
Childs  to  permit  himself  to  be  nominated  for  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  gave  force  to  his  entreaty  by 
the  assurance  that  Mr.  Childs  should  have  the  earnest 
support  of  his  newspaper,  and  pledged  himself  to  sub- 
scribe one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  day  Mr. 
Childs  should  be  nominated,  towards  defraying  the 
necessary  expenses  of  the  election.  Another  distin- 
guished  man,  the    proprietor  of    one  of  the   leading 


t376  Celebration  of  the 

Democratic  newspapers  of  the  West,  made  similar 
appeals  to  Mr.  Childs,  and  ofTcred  to  subscribe  fifty 
thousand  dollars  to  elect  him.  Requests  and  offers  of 
like  character  were  made  by  men  who  control  powerful 
Republican  journals.  Leading  men  of  the  two  political 
parties  recognized  the  depth  of  this  popular  feeling, 
and  The  more  sagacious  of  them  admitted  if  it  were 
not  interfered  with  it  would  result  in  the  nomination 
and  election  of  Mr.  Childs  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States.  These  facts  are  personally  known  to 
me,  and  many  others  to  the  same  effect  might  be  cited. 
They  are  mentioned  here  to  show  that  the  movement 
to  make  Mr.  Childs  President  of  the  United  States  was 
real  and  substantial,  and  extended  to  all  classes  of 
people.  But  the  production  of  corroborating  testimony 
upon  this  point  is  not  necessary  in  this  assembly,  w^here 
Mr.  Childs  is  so  well  known  and  so  thoroughly  ap- 
preciated." 

Major  Carson  concluded  with  an  appropriate  tribute 
to  the  character  and  virtues  of  Mr.  Childs ;  a  man 
whose  every-day  life  furnished  a  lesson  for  emulation  ; 
a  man  who  was  moved  by  the  spirit  of  an  unbounded 
benevolence ;  whose  charity  was  not  restricted  by  par- 
tisan or  sectarian  lines;  who  "w^ould  not  follow  Nep- 
tune for  his  trident,  or  Jove  for  his  power  to  thunder  ;"' 
who  carried  sunshine  to  the  homes  and  hearts  of  a 
greater  number  of  people,  and  who  represented  a 
broader  and  deeper  and  purer  humanity  than  any  man 
with  whom  he  had  been  brought  in  contact.  "You 
do  well,"  he  said,  in  conclusion,  "as  individuals  and 
as  an  association  to  honor  this  man,  and  in  doing  honor 
to  him  you  most  do  honor  yourselves." 

After  singing  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  in  which  all 
present  joined,  the   pleasant   assemblage    slowly  dis- 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        377 

persed  from  what  was  a  remarkably  successful  celebra- 
tion. 

We  insert  a  few  out  of  the  laro^e  number 
of  letters  and  telegrams  received  from  prom- 
inent persons  who  were  unable  to  be  present. 

LETTER    FROM    HOX.  SIMON    CAMERON. 

Brookfield  Farm,  May  12,  1888. 

I  am  sorry,  beyond  my  power  to  express,  that  I  will 
not  be  able  to  meet  my  fellow-craftsmen  at  dinner  this 
evening,  as  I  had  so  hoped  to  do. 

To  do  Mr.  Ciiilds  honor  is  always  a  real  pleasure  to 
me.  but  I  find  myself  in  such  condition  that  it  is  far 
easier  for  me  to  go  home  than  to  take  the  risk  of  at- 
tending the  banquet. 

My  life  as  a  printer  is  one  of  the  periods  of  it  to 
which  I  look  back  with  great  satisfaction,  and  I  know 
very  well  that  the  good  men  and  true  who  will  celebrate 
Mr.  Childs's  birthday  to-night  are  keeping  undimmed 
the  glorious  record  of  their  noble  and  useful  calling. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

SiMOx  Cameron. 

LETTER    FROM    HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS. 

Fraxklin  Square,  Xew  York,  May  15,  1888. 
Dear  Mr.  Childs, — We  regret  that  we  were  unable 
to  join  with  our  brethren  of  the  craft  in  their  dinner  of 
the  12th  inst.,  commemorating  your  birthday.  AVhile, 
however,  it  would  have  been  an  honor  to  honor  you 
on  that  occasion,  there  is  left  to  us  the  abiding  pleasure 
of  honoring  you  on  all  occasions,  and  of  assuring  you 
of  our  faithful  friendship. 

?>2* 


378  Celebration  of  the 

It  is  a  satisfaction  to  us  to  believe  that  we  of  the 
second  and  third  generation  of  our  house  retain  the 
cordial  regard  shown  to  our  fathers  by  you,  our  illus- 
trious fellow-printer  and  countryman,  who  by  your 
kind  and  worthy  acts  have  won  the  grateful  love  of  the 
world. 

Yours  always,  very  sincerely. 

Harper  &  Brothers. 


LETTER     FROM     COL.    A.    K.     M  CLURE,     EDITOR 
PHILADELPHIA    TIMES. 

Philadelphia,  May  12,  1888. 

A  pressure  of  engagements  compels  me  to  deny 
myself  the  pleasure  of  joining  in  the  appropriate  cel- 
ebration of  the  birthday  of  George  W.  Childs ;  but  I 
cannot  let  the  occasion  pass  without  expressing  my 
appreciation  of  the  foremost  of  publishers  and  em- 
ployers in  all  that  attaches  the  highest  honors  to  those 
vocations. 

There  is  not  a  publisher  in  Philadelphia  w^ho  does 
not  heartily  join  in  the  highest  tribute  to  Mr.  Childs 
whose  distinction  is  above  the  reach  of  jealousies,  and 
who  has  justly  won  the  trust  and  affection  of  the 
printers  of  the  whole  land.  He  is  the  one  man  of  ex- 
ceptional success  who  is  beloved  by  all,  and  his  name 
will  be  crystallized  in  history  as  the  benefactor  of  his 
age. 

The  world  will  honor  the  man  above  all  others  who 
can  sincerely  decline  its  highest  honors  of  public  trust : 
and  the  celebration  of  his  birthday  is  commemorating 
the  noblest  qualities  of  American  citizenship. 

Very  truly  yours, 

A.  K.  McClure. 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        379 


LETTER    FROM    THE    CHIEF    JUSTICE    OF  THE    SUPREME 
COURT    OF    PENXSYLVANIA. 

Philadelphia,  May  12,1888. 

My  DEAR  Mr.  Childs, — I  regret  that  my  official  en-, 
gagements  will  prevent  my  presence  at  the  dinner  this 
evening  in  your  honor.  I  have,  as  you  well  know,  a 
warm  feeling  for  the  craft.  In  my  boyhood  days  I 
became  fired  with  the  ambition  to  edit  and  publish  a 
country  newspaper,  and  in  order  to  enable  me  to  do  so 
successfully  I  acquired  a  practical  knowledge  of  the 
business.  I  look  back  upon  those  days  as  among  the 
happiest  of  my  life,  and  the  associations  then  formed 
will  long  be  cherished.  The  late  Bayard  Taylor  and 
Hon.  Wm.  Butler,  our  admirable  Judge  of  the  United 
States  Court,  were  among  my  companions  in  the 
printing-office.  You  will  understand,  therefore,  why 
my  heart  always  warms  to  the  craft,  and  especially 
does  it  warm  to  yourself  and  my  noble  friend,  Mr. 
Drexel,  who  have  done  so  much  to  contribute  to  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  order,  by  your  broad 
and  intelligent  charity.  May  the  Lord  bless  you  both, 
and  increase  your  prosperity,  that  you  may  have  the 
means  to  bless  others. 

I  am  sincerely  your  friend, 

Edward  M.  Paxsox. 
Mr.  Geo.  W.  Childs, 

letter  from  thomas  mackellar,  of  mackellar, 
smiths  &  jordan,  type-founders. 

Philadelphia,  May  12,  1S8S. 

During  the  very  many  years  of  my  acquaintance  with 
my  much-esteemed  friend  Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  he  has 
always  manifested  the  admirable  traits  of  character  and 


380  Celebration  of  the 

demeanor  which  still  characterize  him  as  a  man  among 
men, — the  same  kindness,  urbanity,  generosity,  benev- 
olence, public  spirit,  and  business  enterprise,  that  impel 
the  printing  craft  (among  whom  I  am  proud  of  having 
been  reared)  to  remember  and  celebrate  his  birthday. 

Aware,  as  I  am,  of  his  private  l)enevolences  to  weary 
and  worn-out  printers  and  their  families  which  are  un- 
known to  the  world,  as  well  as  of  his  well-known  pub- 
lic good  doings,  I  often  say.  Would  there  were  many 
more  George  W.  Childs's  in  this  world  to  lessen  the  suui 
of  human  sorrow  in  it!     God  bless  him  1 

So  prays 

TnoMAS  MacKellar. 

LETTER    FROM    HOX.    JOHX    RUSSELL    YOUNG,  LATE 
U.  S.  MINISTER    TO    CHINA. 

Herald  Office,  New  York,  May  12,  1888. 

I  am  much  honored  by  your  kind  invitation  to  attend 
the  banquet  to  be  given  by  the  Ex-Delegates  to  the  In- 
ternational Typographical  Union  on  the  occasion  of  the 
birthday  of  George  W.  Childs. 

I  have  known  Mr.  Childs  intimately  since  my  boy- 
hood, and  under  circumstances  which  have  enabled  me 
to  know  his  character  and  career.  I  know  of  no  char- 
acter that  may  be  better  studied,  for  the  good  that  will 
come,  by  the  young  men  of  the  nation,  who  in  their 
entrance  upon  life  seek  the  example  of  the  wise  and 
true  men  that  have  gone  before.  In  him  they  will  see 
absolute  rectitude,  a  command  of  himself  above  the 
allurements  and  temptations  of  the  day  amounting  to 
asceticism  ;  patient,  persevering,  knowing  his  own 
mind,  and  ever  going  to  his  purpose  with  a  Napoleonic 
clearness  and  alertness  of  vision  ;  believing  in  himself 
and  in  the  work  he  has  to  do  :  with  the  genius  of  com- 
mon  sense;    with   perfect  courage;  a  judgment  that 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Cldlds.        381 

wastes  no  time  on  illusions  or  dreams  ;  the  best  busi- 
ness head  I  have  ever  known  ;  in  poverty  and  in  wealtli, 
in  obscurity  and  in  fame,  always  found  by  me  to 
be  the  considerate,  courteous,  ever-thoughtful,  high- 
minded  gentleman  and  friend.  The  instinct  which 
prompts  you  to  honor  such  a  man  is  an  honest  one,  and 
to  be  commended  in  all  ways  as  your  due  and  loyal 
tribute  to  him. 

I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  be  with  you.  I  send  you 
my  good  wishes  and  best  thanks  for  your  remembrance. 
I  trust  that  I  may  be  permitted  to  unite  with  you  in 
the  hope  that  our  noble  friend  may  live  for  many  and 
many  a  happy  year  to  enjoy  the  day  you  celebrate. 

Yours  sincerely, 

JoHx  Russell  Young. 

LETTER    FROM    CONGRESSMAN    GALLINGER. 

CoKCORD,  N.  H.,  May  11,  18S8. 

When  I  left  Washington  for  my  New  England  home 
a  few  days  ago,  it  was  my  purpose  to  plan  my  return 
trip  so  as  to  be  in  attendance  upon  the  banquet  on 
Saturday  evening..  Unfortunately,  business  matters, 
which  can  neither  be  transacted  before  that  time  nor 
permanently  neglected,  render  it  utterly  impossible  for 
me  to  be  with  you  on  the  interesting  occasion. 

It  has  never  been  my  privilege  personally  to  meet 
the  great,  good  man  whom  you  are  to  honor,  but  to  me, 
in  common  with  all  true  printers  in  the  country,  his 
name  is  a  household  word  and  a  synonyme  for  every- 
tliing  that  is  honorable,  true,  and  philanthropic.  When 
earning  my  living  as  a  printer  I  knew  of  George  W. 
Childs,  and  learned  to  revere  his  name  as  an  ideal 
member  of  the  craft,  and  in  later  years,  with  my 
energies  and  purposes  directed  in  other  channels  of 
honorable  effort,  I  have  never  forgotten  to  do  honor,  in 


382  Celebration  of  the 

thought  at  least,  to  the  noble  man  whose  birthday  you 

are  to  celebrate  to-morrow  evening. 

I  can  only  add  that  I  sincerely  trust  that  Mr.  Childs 

may  live  to  enjoy  many  more  birthday  anniversaries, 

and  that  the  occasion  from  which  I  am  unavoidably  kept 

may  be  one  of  rare  pleasure  and  profit  to  those  who 

may  attend. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

J.  II.  Gallinger. 

TELEGRAM    FROM    CONGRESSMAN    THOMPSON. 

Washingtox,  D.  C,  May  12,  18S8. 
I  am  unavoidably  obliged  to  forego  the  anticipated 
pleasure  of  banqueting  with  the  Ex-Delegates'  Associ- 
ation in  lionor  of  the  birthday  of  Mr.  Childs,  who  so 
eminently  fills,  in  your  city  of  friends,  the  place  of  the 
great  preceptor  of  our  craft.  My  hearty  congratula- 
tions to  Mr.  Childs  and  your  Association! 

Thos.  L.  Thompson. 

telegram  from  civil-service  commissioner 
j.  n.  oberly,  ex-president  i.  t.  u. 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  12,  1888. 
Much  to  my  disappointment,  I  find  myself  unable 
to  be  present  at  the  birthday  dinner  of  Mr.  George  W. 
Childs.  I  send  my  hearty  wishes  for  the  entire  success 
of  the  occasion,  and  my  personal  congratulations  to  Mr. 
Childs  on  the  recurrence  of  the  day  which  the  craft  of 
the  whole  country  honors  in  your  celebration. 

John  H.  Oberlt. 

letter  from  wm.  aimison,  president  i.  t.  u. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  May  5,  1888. 
...  I  regret  my  inability  to  be  present,  owing  to  the 
nearness  of  the   meeting  of  the   International   TypO' 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        383 

graphical  Union,  and  the  rush  of  business  incident 
thereto.  There  is  no  one  to-day,  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  I.  T.  U.,  whom  the  printers  of  the  country 
would  delight  to  honor  more  than  Mr.  Childs.  May 
his  birthdays  be  continued,  and  when  the  warm  heart 
and  charitable  hand  are  stilled  in  death,  may  his 
memory  be  as  a  refreshing  draught  to  strengthen  and 
to  re-encourage  us  in  the  battle  of  life  ! 

Yery  respectfully, 

Wm.  Aimisox. 

letter  from  ex-president  witter. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  9,  1S8S. 

...  I  desire  to  assure  you  of  my  hearty  sympathy 
with  your  efforts  to  do  honor  to  the  birthday  of  Mr. 
Childs.  Our  craft  has  especial  cause  for  gratitude  to 
Mr.  Childs  ;  not  merely  because  of  his  generous  recog- 
nition of  our  oriranization,  and  the  good-will  which 
has  always  characterized  his  conduct  towards  us,  but 
because  the  day  when  fair-dealing  shall  be  the  rule  in 
every  printing-oflBce  is  hastened  by  his  conspicuous 
example.  Such  examples  are  to  us  a  guarantee  for 
the  future.  Justice  between  men  is  the  simple  solution 
for  the  perplexing  "problem."  Mr.  Childs  has  not 
only  been  wise  enough  to  see  the  truth,  but  unselfish 
enough  to  practise  it. 

Fraternally  yours, 

M.  R.  H.  Witter. 

LETTER    FROM    CUIEF    ORGANIZER    BOYER. 

Columbus,  0.,  May  8,  1S8S. 

...  I  hereby  send  my  regrets  at  not  being  able  to 
attend.  No  other  labor  organization  in  this  or  any 
other  country  has  ever  received  such  consideration  at 


384  Cdebratlon  of  the 

the  hands  of  any  one  man  as  did  the  International 
IVpographical  Union,  in  June,  188G,  from  George  AV. 
Childs,  whose  name  is  revered  and  honored  throughout 
the  entire  jurisdiction  of  the  f^rand  body.  .  .  .  Lon<5 
life  and  happiness  to  the  friends  of  Union  printers, — 
George  W.  Childs  and  Anthony  J.  Drexel ! 

Faithfully  vours, 

David  P.  Bover. 


LETTER    FROM    JOUX    VINCENT. 

Globe  Office,  Boston,  April  30,  1888. 

.  .  .  Permit  me  to  unite  with  you  in  expressing  to 
your  honorable  guest  the  wish  for  his  long-continued 
health  and  happiness.  Though  confident  of  the  reward 
that  awaits  him  in  eternity,  may  it  be  many  years 
before  he  is  called  from  a  field  in  which,  by  his  gen- 
erous, unselfish  nature,  he  has  proved  himself  so  useful 
and  valuable ! 

To  George  W.  Childs,  more  than  to  any  other  man 
jiving,  are  we  indebted  for  the  present  era  of  good 
feeling  existing  between  employers  and  members  of  our 
craft,  which  has  taken  the  place  of  the  antagonistic 
spirit  of  former  years. 

In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  suggest  for  your  consid- 
eration, as  a  slight  recognition  of  his  many  acts  of 
kindness  to  the  craft,  and  of  his  munificent  donation 
to  the  I.  T.  U.,  that  steps  be  taken  to  have  the  likeness 
of  George  W.  Childs  placed  on  the  face  of  the  Union 
travelling  card;  for  he  of  all  men,  living  or  dead,  is 
entitled  to  this  honor.  And  in  this  sugo-estion  I  am 
confident  of  being  seconded  by  every  member  in  our 
ranks. 

Sincerely  and  fraternally, 

John  Vincent. 


Bhihday  of  George  W.  Cliilds.         385 


LETTER    FROM    STATE    LIBRARIAN   EGLE. 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  May  10,  1888. 

...  I  need  not  assure  you  how  I  would  appreciate 
being  in  the  goodly  company  of  so  many  disciples  of  the 
typographic  art,  who  meet  to  do  honor  to  that  great 
warm-hearted  American  gentleman,  George  W.  Childs. 

He  who  has  done  so  much  good  for  mankind  well 
merits  the  love  and  reverence  of  his  fellow-citizens : 
and,  as  a  token  of  my  high  esteem,  and  as  a  member 
of  the  royal  craft,  I  would  be  delighted  to  add  my  meed 
of  praise  to  him  who  is  deserving  of  the  grandest  tes- 
timonial that  the  printers  or  the  press  can  bestow. 

Sincerely  yours, 

William  IT.  Egle. 

EDITORIALS. 

As  a  fittiiis:  close  we  introduce  a  fe\y  edi- 
torials  from  various  journals  relative  to  the 
Banquet. 

From  The  Craftsman,  Washington,  Saturday,  May 

19,  1888. 

(Official  Paper  of  the  International  Typographical  Union.) 
THE    TWELFTH    OF    MAY. 

Right  royally  did  the  Ex-Delegates'  Association  of 
Philadelphia  celebrate  this  red-letter  day  in  the  Union 
Printers'  calendar.  From  near  and  far  were  craftsmen 
gathered  around  the  social  board,  and  "  the  Day  we 
Celebrate"  was  marked  by  a  tribute  to  the  noble  man 
whose  name  was  on  every  tongue,  which  proved  how 
thoroughly  the  many  kindly  deeds  of  George  W.  Childs 
R        2  33 


386  Celebration  of  the 

are  appreciated  by  a  craft  which  is,  perhaps,  less  prone 
to  hero  worship  than  any  other.  The  gathering  was 
a  notable  one,  embracing  as  it  did  a  number  of  Union 
printers  who,  though  their  names  arc  now  inscribed 
high  on  the  roll  of  fame,  are  yet  proud  and  happy  to 
acknowledge  allegiance  to  th-e  International  Typo- 
graphical Union,  and  to  unite  with  their  less  promi- 
nent brothers  in  doing  honor  to  one  who  has  so  con- 
spicuously, again  and  again,  been  pleased  to  honor  the 
craft  and  its  organization. 

No  man  occupying  the  position  of  Mr.  George  "W. 
Childs  has  ever  shown  his  good-Avill,  his  regard,  his 
genuine  respect  for  us  so  nobly.  When  bad  men  would 
throw  suspicion  on  our  endeavors,  when  unfair  jour- 
nals would  present  us  to  the  world  as  conspirators 
whose  association  was  a  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  land, 
this  nobleman  of  God's  own  making  showed  his  good 
opinion  of  us,  before  the  world,  in  his  own  practical 
and  masnificent  manner.  Is  it  a  wonder  that  we  sneak 
his  name  as  one  near  and  dear  to  us  ?  Is  it  a  wonder 
that  on  the  anniversarv  of  his  birth  we  feel  glad  and 
happy  and  joyous  tliat  so  good,  so  great  a  friend  was 
given  us? 

The  career  of  Mr.  Childs  is  marked  by  good  deeds, 
by  kindly  acts,  so  continuous  that  it  really  seems  as  if 
his  thoughts  were  ever  occupied,  not  in  devising  how 
to  make  money,  but  rather  how  to  disburse  his  princely 
income  so  as  to  make  the  largest  number  of  deserving 
persons  happy  and  comfortable.  He  is  not  of  those 
who,  having  made  a  munificent  donation,  takes  comfort 
in  the  thought  that  he  has  given  to  the  cause  of  human- 
ity  a  goodly  and  sufficient  share.  Much  as  Mr.  Childs 
has  done  to  lighten  the  burdens  and  gladden  the  hearts 
of  his  fellow-men,  he  never  wearies  of  the  blessed  work, 
but  every  day  he  marks  by  deeds  which  to  him  have 


Birthday  of  Gecyrge  W.  Chihh.         387 

become  part  of  his  existence.  The  craft  will  imitate 
our  Philadelphia  brothers,  we  are  sure,  by  similar  cele- 
brations as  the  years  bring  anniversaries  of  the  glad 
day;  and  thus  the  name  of  Childs  will  live  in  the 
printers'  hearts,  year  after  year,  more  enduring  by  far 
than  monuments  of  bronze  or  marble. 

From  The  Union  Printei^,  New  York,  May  12,  1888. 

.  .  .  While  George  AV.  Childs  needs  no  encomium 
from  us — his  life  and  deeds  being  a  lasting  euloG-ium — 
we  feel  an  irresistible  impulse  to  linger  over  his  exalted 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  printers.  His  example  is  an 
inspiration,  and  in  doing  him  honor  we  thereby  attest 
our  appreciation  of  those  noble  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart  which  have  been  the  guiding  principles  of  his 
career. 

From  Tlie  Evening  Bulletin,  Philadelphia,  May  24, 

1889. 

RECOLLECTIONS    OF    MR.    CHILDS. 

It  is  a  customary  thing  for  the  people  of  every 
European  nation  ruled  by  an  hereditary  monarch  to 
celebrate  the  sovereign's  birthday.  In  fact  it  is  a 
popular  function,  prescribed  by  the  State,  and  the 
community  that  neglects  the  pei-functory  performance 
is  suspected  of  disloyalty.  The  real  honor  of  birthday 
congratulations,  however,  consists  in  their  being  spon- 
taneous and  heartfelt.  Mr.  George  \V.  Childs  had  a 
birthday  anniversary  lately,  and  it  would  be  good  for 
the  world  if  he  could  have  thousands  of  them.  He 
is  not  an  hereditary  sovereign,  or  even  a  temporary 
holder  of  a  high  office.  But  he  received  congratula- 
tions more  numerous  and  more  sincere  than  any  that 
were  ever  offered  to  the  greatest  of  rulers  or  heroes. 


388  Celebration  of  the 

Thousands  of  newspapers,  and  perhaps  as  many  letters 
and  telegrams,  bore  greetings  and  good  wishes  to  him. 
Good  men  and  good  women  wrote  to  him,  not  mere 
formal  words  of  compliment,  but  honest,  fervent  ex- 
pressions of  sincere  admiration  and  affection,  united 
with  prayerful  invocations  for  all  possible  blessings. 
If  Mr.  Childs  were  to  collect  these  .and  edit  them  for 
the  public  eye,  they  would  astonish  that  public.  But 
such  things  are  sacred  in  his  estimation.  He  cannot, 
however,  muzzle  the  press,  or  prevent  such  a  writer  as 
Mr.  George  William  Curtis  from  printing  this  para- 
graph in  the  last  number  of  Harpefs  Weekly : 

"  The  universal  kindly  greeting  to  Mr.  George  AV. 
Childs  upon  his  late  birthday  is  a  pleasant  illustration 
of  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held.  Especially  agree- 
able to  him  probably  was  the  hearty  tribute  of  the 
printers,  who  have  more  than  once  testified  their  regard 
for  him.  His  heart  and  hand  are  always  open  to  good 
causes,  and  his  Ledger^  a  journal  of  great  circulation, 
is  directed  with  a  candor  and  courtesy  and  ability 
which  give  it  a  distinctive  character.  The  smiles  of 
Fortune  upon  this,  one  of  her  favorites,  are  certainly 
justified  by  the  spirit  and  manner  in  which  he  shares 
his  favors  with  others." 

This  and  similar  words  only  faintly  express  the 
popular  love  for  Mr.  Childs.  Still  more  faintly  do  they 
suggest  his  incessant,  untiring  generosity,  which  is 
beyond  description.  An  example  of  it,  Avhich  will 
reach  hundreds  of  thousands  of  magazine  readers,  is 
seen  in  a  series  of  articles  begun  in  the  June  Lippin- 
cott^  the  writer  of  which  frankly  says  that  he  obtained 
the  information  contained  in  them  from  Mr.  Childs, 
who,  when  appealed  to  for  some  "  Recollections"  of  his 
life,  was  "  proof  against  every  temptation  save  that  of 
doing  a  friendly  act."     To  this  he  yielded,  because  it 


Birthday  of  George  W.  Childs.        389 

would  help  the  writer,  who,  in  turn,  gives  to  the  public 
some  very  entertaining  and  equally  instructive  pictures 
of  the  private  life,  from  boyhood  upward,  of  a  man  in 
whose  career  every  one  takes  a  peculiar  interest.  When 
completed  these  papers  will  make  an  autobiography 
that  will  be  better  worth  regarding  as  a  classic  than 
those  of  many  celebrated  men  of  past  times,  who, 
unlike  Mr.  Childs,  had  sins  to  conceal  or  shames  to 
confess.  Such  a  life  as  his  teaches  a  lesson  to  the 
youth  of  America  that  will  help  them  much  more  than 
any  to  be  found  in  the  most  famous  books  of  auto- 
biography  or  the  most  brilliant  of  the  kind  called 
Confessions.  For  this  and  coming  generations  these 
"  Recollections"  are  better  than  Franklin's  autobiog- 
raphy, and  it  is  a  happy  circumstance  that  they  have 
been  put  on  paper  and  placed  before  the  public. 


IliDEX. 


Adams,  John,  President  of  United  vState?,  letter  of,  65,  66. 
Aimison,  William,   President  of  International   Typographical 

Union,  letter  from,  336. 
Album  belonging  to  Mrs.  George  W.  Childs,  32. 
Allibone,  Samuel  Austin,  author  of  "Dictionary  of  British  and 

American  Authors,"  13. 
Amaral  Valente,  do,  J.  G.,  Brazilian  Minister  to  United  States, 
letter  from,  to  Mr.  Childs,  46,  47. 
attends  presentation  ceremonies  at  West  Point,  146. 
Andre,    Major   John,    manuscript   of    his   poem    "The    Cow- 
Chase,"  61. 
Andrewes,  Lancelot,  Bishop,  310,  312,  313. 
"Arctic  Explorations," by  Dr.  Kane,  publication  of,  12,  13. 
Arden,  Mary,  mother  of  Shakespeare,  207. 
Arnold^  Sir  Edwin,  poet,  visits  Mr.  Childs,  130. 
extract  from  letter  of,  179  (note), 
editorial  of,  in  London  Daily  Telegrajih,  245-248. 
Arnold,  Matthew,  poet,  address  of,  297,  298. 

death  of,  299. 
"Around  the  World  with  General  Grant,"  by  John  Eussell 
Young,  119. 

Bacon,  Delia,  theory  of,  211,  257. 
Baltimore  Dailg  News,  extract  from,  263. 
Bancroft,  George,  historian,  27. 

391 


392  Index. 

Barnura,  P.  T.,  proposal  of,  to  remove  Shakespeare's  house  to 

America,  233,  244. 
Beale,   E.   F.,   General,   expresses  his   admiration   of  General 

Grant,  138. 
Bennett,  James  Gordon,  Sr.,  journalist,  personal  characteristics 

of,  28. 
Benton,  Thomas  H.,  29. 
Biographical  sketch  of  Mr.  Childs,  by  Eugene  U.  Munday, 

347-351. 
Birmingham  Daily  Post,  extract  from,  252-254. 
Boyer,  David  P.,  letter  from,  to  printers'  banquet,  336,  337. 
Bright,  John,  quotation  from,  269. 
Brooklyn  Eagle,  extracts  from,  207-212  ;  306-308. 
Browne,  H.  K.,  artist,  collection  of  the  illustrations  of,  63. 
Bryant,  "William  Cullen,  poet,  his  translation  of  first  book  of 

the  Iliad,  52,  125. 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  personal  characteristics  of,  37. 

entertains  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Childs  at  Stowe  and  Wootton,  37. 
anecdotes  of,  38,  39. 
Byron,  George  G.  N.,  Lord,  poet,  writing-desk  of,  55. 
his  parody  of  Wordsworth's  "  Peter  Bell,"  56,  57. 

Cameron,  Simon,  letter  of,  377. 

Carson,  John  M.,  journalist,  his  account  of  the  painting  of 
portraits  of  Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan, 
167-179. 

remarks  of,  at  printers'  banquet,  372-376. 
Century  Magazine,  298. 
Chair  embroidered  by  Duchess  of  Buckingham  for  Mrs.  Childs, 

32,  39. 
Childs,  George  W.,  incidents  in  early  life  of,  9-14,  209,  234. 

enters  United  States  navy,  10. 

goes  into  business  for  himself,  11. 

becomes  member  of  the  firm  of  R.  E.  Peterson  &  Co.,  12. 

purchases  Public  Ledger,  14,  234,  324. 

letters  to,  from  H.  W.  Longfellow,  24,  25. 

purchases  country-seat  near  Bryn  Mawr,  24. 

names  it  "  Wootton,"  38. 

guests  of,  list  of,  31,  32. 


Index,  393 

Chikls,  George  W.,  letters  to,  33,  34,  46-50,  143, 144,  284,  285. 
his  trip  abroad,  33-41. 
visits  Charles  Dickens,  34. 

Duke  of  Buckingham,  37,  38. 
Fountain  Abbey,  39,  40. 

Mr.  John  Walter,  proprietor  London  Times,  40. 
gives  dinner  to  Longfellow  at  Rome,  41. 
letter  from  General  Grant,  95. 

"  Personal  Memoirs"  presented  to,  by  Colonel  Grant,  97. 
description  of  Philadelphia  residence,  124-128,  131. 
appointed  President  of  Board  of  Visitors  at  West  Point, 

139,  141,  163,  171. 
presents  portraits  of  Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheri- 
dan to  Military  Academy,  140,  142,  143,  146,  164. 
letter  to,  from  President  Harrison,  143,  144. 
is  present  at  presentation  ceremonies,  146,  148,  149,  165. 
letter  to,  from  General  Sherman,  153,  154  (note), 
water  from  Shakespeare  Fountain  sent  to,  252,  260. 
letter  from,  to  Archdeacon  Farrar,  293. 
sketch  of  his  life  by  Eugene  H.  Munday,  347-351. 
relations  of,  to  his  employees,  319-338. 
is  made  honorary  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Typograph- 
ical Society,  325. 
presents  burial  lot  to  Typographical  Society,  325. 
philanthropy  of,  325-329. 
pension  system  of,  326,  327. 
his  profit-sharing,  327,  328. 
extra  wages  paid  by  him  to  type-setters,  328. 
gift  of,  to  International  Typographical  Union,  329. 
policy  of,  towards  labor  organizations,  331. 
proposal  to  make  him  Presidential  candidate  in  1888,  333^ 

334,  374,  376. 
celebration  in  honor  of  his  birthday,  335. 
tribute  to,  from  the  press,  on  his  birthday,  337,  338. 
"Chronicles  of  the  Canongate,"  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,   manu- 
script of,  59. 
Churchman,  The,  New  York,  extract  from,  306. 
Claghorn,  James  L.,  invites  Dom  Pedro  to  visit  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts,  42. 


394  Index, 

Clock,  Rittenhouse,  history  of,  67,  6S. 

Coleridge,    Samuel    Taylor,   poet,    autograph    letter    of,    62, 

125. 
"Collection  of   Four   Thousand   Autographs,   A,  made  by  a 

Scrivener,"  by  W.  G.  Latham,  64. 
Collins,  William  Wilkie,  novelist,  36. 
**  Comic  Annual,"  by  Thomas  Hood,  62. 
"Complete  Concordance  to   Shakespeare,"  by   Mary  Cowden 

Clarke,  original  manuscript  of,   and  letters  concerning,  57. 
Congressman  Farquhar,  of  New  York,  speech  at  the  printers' 
banquet,  345-347. 
Cummings,  of  New  York,  speech  at  the  printers'  banquet, 

O'Donnell,  of  Michigan,  speech  at  the  printers'  banquet, 

367. 
Nichols,  of  North  Carolina,  speech  at  the  printers'  ban- 
quet, 368-370. 
Vance,  of  Connecticut,  speech  at  the  printers'  banquet,  370. 
Iludd,  of  Wisconsin,  speech  at  the  printers'  banquet,  351. 
Gallinger,    of    New    Hampshire,    letter   to   the    printers' 
banquet,  381,  382. 
Conkling,  Roscoe,  Senator,  favors  Electoral   Commission,  and 
his  influence  to  hasten  its  appointment  by  the  Senate, 
80. 
assists  in  Garfield  campaign,  82,  83. 
"  Consular  Experiences,"  Hawthorne's,  original  manuscript,  23. 
Cook,  Joel,  account  of  the  Herbert-Cowper  Window  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  286 ;  speech  at  printers'  banquet,  335. 
Cooper,  Peter,  philanthropist,  incident  of  his  early  life,  30,  31. 
Cossins,  J.  A.,  architect  of  Shakespeare  Fountain,  202. 
"Cow-Chase,  The,"  by  Major  John  Andre,  manuscript  of,  60. 
Cowper,  William,  poet,  275,  281,  282,  2S4,  316. 
Craftsman,  The,  Washington,  editorial  on  Mr.  Childs's  birth- 
day, 385-387. 

Darragh,  Mrs.,  artist,  paints  portraits  of  Generals  Grant,  Sher- 
man, and  Sheridan,  147,  163,  164,  168,  175,  177,  179. 

Davis  L.  Clarke,  account  of  Mr.  Childs's  gifts  to  England : 
Shakespeare   Fountain    at   Stratford-upon-Avon,   Memorial 


Index.  395 

Windows  in  "Westminster  Ahhcj,  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster, 
etc.,  187,  31G. 
Dedication  of  Shakespeare  Fountain,  account  of,  212-226,  242, 

248,  249,  250,  252,  254,  255-257,  259-262,  2G5. 
De  La  Warr,  Earl,  Lord  High  Steward,  214. 

proposes  toast  to  President  of  the  United  States,  227. 
"  Demetrius,"  by  Schiller,  manuscript  of,  62. 
Description  of  Shaliespeare  Fountain,  202-205. 
Dickens,  Charles,  novelist,  invites  Mr.  Childs  to  visit  him,  33. 

his  manner  of  constructing  his  stories,  34-36. 
"Dictionary  of  British  and   American  Authors,"  by  Dr.  S.  A. 

Allibone,  13, 14. 
Dilke,  Sir  Charles  Wentworth,  277. 
Drexel,  A.  J.,  banker,  14. 

is  consulted  by  President  Grant,  84,  85,  106. 
gift  of,  to  International  Typographical  Union,  329,  346, 
347-350. 

Electoral  Commission  proposed,  77-80. 

bill  passed  appointing  it,  81. 
Ely,  Prof.  Richard  T.,  Mr.  Childs  and  the  Workingman,  his 

Connection  with  his  Employees,  319,  340. 
Emerson,  Ptalph  Waldo,  essayist,  visits  Mr.  Childs,  27. 

quotation  from,  238. 
Everett,  Edward,  orator  and  statesman,  letter  from,  29. 

Farrar,  Rev.  F.  W.,  Archdeacon  of  Westminster,  287,  305. 

quotations  from,  279-281,  291,  304,  305. 

letters  from,  291-297,  299,  305. 
Fields,  James  T.,  publisher,  21. 

letter  to,  from  Ex-President  Franklin  Pierce,  22,  23,  66. 
Fish,  Hamilton,  Hon.,  31,  127,  131. 

made  member  of  Grant's  Cabinet,  97. 
Flower,  Charles  E.,  Councillor,  202,  213,  214,  267. 

proposes  toast  to  Mr.  Henry  Irving,  237. 
Franklin,  Lady,  visits  Mr.  Childs,  40. 

Garfield,  General  James  A.,  President  of  United  States,  82. 
**  Godolphin,"  by  Sir  E.  Bulwer  Lytton,  manuscript  of,  60. 


396  Index. 

Gott,  Rev.  Dr.,  Dean  of  Worcester,  sermon  of,  314,  315. 

Grand  Army  of  the  Kepublic,  growth  of,  137. 

Grant,  Frederick   D.,  Colonel,  letter  of,  to  New  York  World, 

115-118. 
appointment  as  Minister  to  Austria,  121. 
accompanies  General  Grant  on   his  tour  around  the  world, 

122. 
Grant,  General  Ulysses  S.,   President  of  United  States,  letter 

of,  66. 
recollections  of,  70-139. 
personal  characteristics  of,  70-75. 
artistic  tastes  and  paintings  of,  71,  72. 
counsels  appointment  of  Electoral  Commission,  78. 
assists  in  Garfield's  campaign,  S3. 
opposed  to  a  third  term,  83. 
vetoes  Inflation  Bill,  85,  156. 
some  experiences  in  speech-making,  88. 
his  last  speech,  89. 
incidents  showing  his  remarkable   power  of  recognition 

of  persons,  91,  92, 
plants  oak-tree  at  Wootton,  93. 
his  fondness  for  horses,  94. 

extract  from  letter  of,  in  regard  to  England,  96. 
his  "Personal  Memoirs,"  96,  97. 
his  friendship  for  Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  97. 
elected  President,  1868,  98. 
avenues  and  streets  of  Washington  improved  during  his 

administration,  99,  100. 
establishes  Indian  Commission,  100. 
generosity  of,  101. 
domestic  happiness  of,  101. 
unjustly  treated  by  General  Halleek,  102. 
his  manner  of  life  at  Long  Branch,  103. 
his  regard  for  General  Sherman,  73. 
his  regard  for  General  Sheridan,  105. 
passage  of  his  retiring  bill,  106,  107. 
justifies  General  Fitz-John  Porter,  108,  109. 
purity  of  his  character,  109,  111. 
his  insensibility  to  music,  110. 


Index.  397 

Grant,  General  Ulysses  S.,  first  symptoms  of  cancer,  111. 
Dr.  Da  Costa  examines  him  and  prescribes,  112. 
goes  to  Mount  McGregor,  112. 
extracts  from  letter  to  Mr.  Childs,  113. 
his  wishes  regarding  place  of  burial,  114-118. 
his  tour  around  the  world,  118-123. 

is  treated  by  all  countries  with  great  honors,  119-121, 156. 
farewell  receptions  in  Philadelphia,  119,  123,  132. 
gifts  presented  during  tour,  122. 

receptions  in  Philadelphia  upon  his  return,  123,  132, 133. 
made  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  in 

Mr.  Childs's  private  office,  132. 
speech  of,  before  the  members  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 

Republic,  133-136. 
portrait  of,  presented  to  Military  Academy,  West  Point, 

140,  142,  143,  146,  154. 
eulogy  of,  by  General  Horace  Porter,  155-158. 
Guests  of  Mr.  Childs,  names  of,  31-32. 

"  Habitations  of  our  Kings,"  by  Thomas  Gray,  manuscript  of, 

60. 
Hall,  Hon.  A.  Oakey,  journalist,  257. 
Hall,  S.  C,  letter  from,  58,  59  (note). 
Halleck,  Henry  Wager,  General,  102. 
Hanqishire  Gazette,  extract  from,  312-315. 
Harper  &  Brothers'  letter  on  Mr.  Childs's  birthday,  377. 
Harper's  New  Monthly  Magazine,  first  number  of,  18. 

extracts  from,  279-281,  290,  291. 
Harper's    Weeldij,   extracts  from,  123-131,   140-142,   264-268, 

337,  388. 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  President  of  United  States,  his  letter  to 

Mr.  Childs,  143, 144. 
Hawkins,  J.  P.,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  commandant  of  Military 

Academy,  146. 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  poet,  21. 
death  of,  22. 

extract  from  letter  of,  23. 
Henry,  Professor  Joseph,  invites  Dom  Pedro  to  visit  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  44. 

34 


398  Index, 

Henry,  Professor  Joseph,  opinion  of  Mr.  Childs,  351. 
Herbert,  George,  poet,  275,  281,  284,  316. 
quotations  from  Walton's  life  of,  2S1. 
Hkrbkrt  and  Cowper  MKMoniAL  in  Westminster  Abbey,  271- 

286. 
"  Ilertha,"  by  Fredrika  Bremer,  manuscript  of  Mary  Hewitt's 

translation  of,  60. 
"  Historical    Memorials,"  of  Westminster   Abbey,   quotations 

from,  271-273. 
Hodgson,  Sir  Arthur,  Mayor  of  Stratford,  202,  214,  226,  229, 
242,  243,  248,  258,  260,  265,  267. 
letters  from,  197,  198. 
address  of,  218,219. 
proposes  toasts  to  Queen  and  the  rest  of  the  Royal  family^ 

226,  227. 
receives  message  of  thanks  from  Mr.  Childs,  240. 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  poet,  memories  of,  26,  27. 
letter  from,  206,  254. 

poem  of,  on  Shakespeare  Fountain,  220-222,  254,  259. 
Holy  Trinity  Church,  Stratford,  207. 

memorial  window  proposed  for,  193,  194. 
proposed  restoration  of,  195. 
Houghton,  Lord,  Pachard  Monckton  Milnes,  visits  Mr.  Childs, 

130. 
Howard,  0.  0.,  General,  letter  from,  144. 

Illustrated  London  News,  extract  from,  203-205. 
Indian  Commission,  organization  of,  100,  101. 
Inscriptions  upon  Shakespeare  Fountain,  266. 
Irving,   Henry,  actor,   213,   214,  219,  228-231,  242,  245-250, 
252,  254,  263. 
address  of,  222-225,  248,  259. 
reads  Dr.  Holmes's  poem,  220. 

drinks  to  Shakespeare  in  first  water  that  flows  from  Foun- 
tain, 225. 
response  to  Mr.  Flower's  toast,  237-239,  260. 
Irving,  Washington,  author,  19,  211,  216,  244,  264,  266. 
"  Italian  Bride,  The,"  by  John  Howard  Payne,  manuscript  of, 
60. 


Index.  399 

James,  G.  P.  R.,  novelist,  visits  Mr.  Childs,  27. 
Johnson,  Andrew,  President  of  United  States,  letters  of,   66. 
Johnston,  Joseph  E.,  General,  dines  with  General  Grant  at  Mr. 
Childs's  house,  74. 
aids  in  passage  of  Grant's  retiring  bill,  106. 
Jonson,  Ben,  208,  273. 

Kane,  Dr.  Elisha  K.,  "Arctic  Explorations"  of,  12,  1.3. 
Ken,  Thomas,  Bishop,  310,  312-314. 

LaflFan,  Mrs.  R.  S.  de  C,  poem  by,  240,  241. 

Zec?grer  building  formally  opened,  1867,  17. 

Library  Treasures  of  Mr.  Childs,  51-69. 

"  Life  of  Captain  Piichard  Somers,"  by  James  Fenimore  Cooper, 

manuscript  of,  60. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  President  of  United  States,  letter  of,  66. 
Lippincott,  J.  B.,  publisher,  13. 
Liverpool  Post,  extract  from,  255. 

Logan,  John  A.,  General,  delivers  eulogy  over  grave  of  Gen- 
eral Grant,  137. 
London  Daily  Telegraph,  extracts  from,  242-248. 
London  Globe,  extract  from,  248,  249. 
London  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  extract  from,  250-252. 
London  Times,  extracts  from,  199,  241,  242. 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  poet,  letters  from,  24,  25. 

dines  with  Mr.  Childs  in  Rome,  28,  41. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  poet,  visits  Mr.  Childs,  25-126. 

manuscript  of  his  poem  "  Under  the  Willows"  in   Mr. 

Childs's  possession,  25. 
letter  from,  on  Shakespeare  Fountain,  215-217,  228,  229, 

245,  246,  254,  258. 
lines  of,  under  Raleigh  Window  in  St.  Margaret's,  293. 

Macaulay,  James,  M.D.,  editor,  195, 197, 199,  202,  218,  219,  251. 

suggests  erection  of  drinking-fountain  to  Mr.  Childs,  196. 

replies  to  toast  to  Mr.  Childs,  236,  237,  260. 
Mackellar,  Thomas,  letter  to  the  printers'  banquet,  379. 
Martin,  Sir  Theodore,  proposes  toast  to  Shakespeare,  243. 
Mather,  Cotton,  sermon  of,  51,  125. 


400  Index. 

McClure,  Colonel  A.  K.,  conversation  with  General  Grant,  81. 

letter  to  the  printers'  banquet,  378. 
Milton,  John,  poet,  290-292,  294,  295,  297,  298,  302,  305,  316. 
MiLTox  Window  in  St.  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster,  287- 

308. 
Moore,  Thomas,  poet,  his  Bible  and  Irish  harp,  59. 
Motley,  John  Lothrop,  historian,  27. 
Munclay,  Eugene    II.,  printer-poet,  sketch  of   Mr.  Childs   at 

printers'  banquet,  347-351. 
"  Murders  in  the  Rue  Morgue,"  by  Edgar  A.  Poe,  manuscript 
of,  25. 
history  of,  52-54. 

"  Need  of  Two  Loves,  The,*'  by  N.  P.  Willis,  manuscript  of,  59. 

Neilson,  General,  speech  at  printers'  banquet,  352. 

Nelson,  Horatio,  Lord,  letter  of,  62. 

Nevin,  W.  W.,  account  of  Herbert-Cowper  Window  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  285. 

New  York  Herald,  extracts  from,  199,  202,  203,  258-261. 

New  York  Sun,  extract  from,  179-183. 

New  York  Times,  extract  from,  262. 

New  York  Tribune,  extract  from,  145-147. 

New  York  World,  extracts  from,  114-118,  142,143,  148-165, 
203-205,  256,  257. 

Noah,  Major  J.  J.,  remarks  at  the  printers'  banquet,  371. 

Osborn,  Thomas  A.,  American  Minister  to  Brazil,  extract  from 

letter  of,  45. 
"Our  Mutual  Friend,"  by  Charles  Dickens,  manuscript  of,  25, 

34. 
Owen,  Sir  Philip  Cunliffe,  remarks  of,  225,  260. 

Patterson,  Robert,  General,  sent  for  by  President  Grant,  SO. 

Paxson,  Chief-Justice,  letter  from,  379. 

Peabody,  George,  philanthropist,  presents  his  portrait  to  Mr. 

Childs,  30. 
Pedro,  Dom,  de  Alcantara,  Emperor  of  Brazil,  incidents  during 
his  visit  to  the  United  States,  42-44. 
his  letter  to  Mr.  Childs,  50. 


Index.  401 

Pedro,  Dom,  de  Alcantara,  Emperor  of  Brazil,  sends  cup  and 
saucer  to  Mr.  Childs,  46. 
presents  photograph  and  book  of  travels  to  Mr.  Childs,  45. 
is  present  at  Centennial  Exhibition,  42,  126. 
Pew  in  St.  Margaret's  Church,  London,  appropriated  to  Ameri- 
cans, 290. 
Phelps,  Hon.  Edward  J.,  American  Minister  to  England,  214, 
215,  219,  223,  239,  243,  247,  248,  200,  295,  303. 
address  of,  227-231,  249,  257,  258. 
Philadelphia  Evening  Bulletin,  editorial  on  Mr.  Childs's  birth- 
day, 387-389. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  President  of  United  States,  letter  of,  22, 23,  66. 
''Pilgrims  of  the  Rhine,"  by  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton,  man- 
uscript of,  60. 
Poe,  Edgar  A.,  poet,  extract  from  letter  of,  55. 
Poetical  Works  of  Leigh  Hunt,  with  autograph  inscription  to 

Charles  Dickens,  51. 
Porter,  Fitz-John,  General,  Grant's  justification  of,  107,  108. 
Porter,  Horace,  General,  presentation  speech  of,  portraits  of 
Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  147,  149,  154-165. 
Prescott,  William  H.,  historian,  his  last  photograph  taken  for 

Mr.  Childs,  27. 
Prime,  Piev.  Dr.,  commends  Mr.  Childs  for  improvement  in  the 

character  of  Public  Ledger,  16,  17. 
Printers'  banquet  on  Mr.  Childs's  birthday,  341,  389. 
Proctor,   Redfield,   Secretary  of  War,   present  at  presentation 
ceremonies,  146. 
remarks  of,  149,  151. 
Public  Ledger,  purchased  by  Mr.  Childs,  14,  15,  234, 

price  of,  doubled,  and  advertising  rates  increased,  15. 
character  of,  changed,  16. 
criticism  of,  251. 
extract  from,  276. 

Randall,  Hon.  Samuel  J.,  Speaker  of  House  of  Representatives, 

78,  79,  80,  106. 
Read,  T.  Buchanan,  artist,  paints  portrait  of  Longfellow  for 
Mr.  Childs,  28. 
dines  with  Mr.  Childs  in  Rome,  28,  41. 
aa  34* 


402  Index. 

Recollections  by  Mr.  Childs,  9-183. 

Relations  to  nis  Employees,  George  W.  Childs  in  his,  319-340. 

Reuedos  of  St.  ThoDias's  Church,  "Winchester,  309-316. 

Resohition  of  Council  of  Stratford  accepting  Fountain,   198. 

Resolution  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Childs,  from  Vestrj  of  St.  Thomas's 
Church,  AVinchester,  England,  311. 

"  Retrospect  of  Western  Travel,"  by  Harriet  Martineau,  man- 
uscript of,  60. 

Rochambeau,  Marquis  de,  entertained  by  Mr.  Childs,  130. 

Rogers,  Professor  Thorold,  his  opinion  of  labor  organizations, 
332,  333. 

Roman  well  in  London,  30. 

Saint  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster,  origin  of,  289. 

Milton  Window  in,  197,  265,  287,  294,  295,  299,  304,  305. 
description  of,  295,  296,  300,  301. 
unveiling  of,  295,  296. 
Saint  Thomas's  Church,  Winchester,  reredos  in,  310-314. 
description  of,  313,  314. 
unveiling  of,  312,  314. 
Sala,  George  Augustus,  journalist,  126,  202. 
Saldanha  da  Gama,  de,  Luiz  Philippe,  Captain,  letter  from,  to 

Mr.  Childs,  48,  49. 
"Scarlet  Letter,"  Hawthorne's,  some  facts  concerning,  23. 
Scott,  Winfield,  General,  sends  copy  of  his  book  to  Mr.  Childs, 

29. 
Shakespeare,  John,  father  of  Shakespeare,  209. 
Shakespeare,  AVilliam,  poet,  187,    191,  195,  196,  207-209,  211, 
224,  225,  238,  239,  243-246,  250,  253,  259,  262,  264,  273, 
316. 
pall-bearer  of,  211. 
Sheridan,  Philip  Henry,  General,  portrait  of,  presented  to  Mil- 
itary Academy,  140,  142,  143,  14C,  154,  164. 
eulogy  of,  by  General  Horace  Porter,  159-161. 
sabre  of,  history  of,  178. 
Sherman,  William  T,,  General,  memoirs  of,  72,  73. 

portrait  of,  presented  to  Military  Academy,  140,  142,  143, 

146,  154,  164. 
present  at  presentation  ceremonies,  146,  148,  149,  151. 


Index.  403 

Sherman,  William  T.,  General,  remarks  of,  151-153. 

eulogy  of,  by  General  Horace  Porter,  15S,  159. 
Site  of  Shakespeare  Fountain  chosen,  202. 
Sole,  Rev.  Arthur  B.,  letters  from,  309-312. 
Stanley,  Rev.  Arthur  P.,  Dean  of  Westminster,  271-276,  282. 

is  a  guest  of  Mr.  Childs,  130,  191,  210,  218,  275. 

letters  from,  193, 194. 

extract  from  sermon  of,  275. 

note  by,  2S3,  284. 
"  State  Services"  in  St.  Margaret's  Church,  289,  290. 
Stowe  and  Wootton,  residences  of  Duke  of  Buckingham,  some 

interesting  features  of,  37,  38. 
Stratford-upon-Ayon  FotrsTAix,  191-269. 
Stratford-upon-Avon  Herald,  extract  from,  212-241. 
Sunday  at  Home,  London,  extract  from,  283,  284. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  Lord,  poet,  manuscript  draught  of  his  dedi- 
catory poem  to  the  Queen,  62. 
lines  of,  under  Caxton  Window  in  St.  Margaret's,  293. 
Thackeray,  William  Makepeace,  manuscript  of  his  "  Lectures 

on  the  Four  Georges,"  59. 
Ticknor,  W.  D.,  publisher,  visits  Philadelphia,  19. 

death  of,  20,  21. 
Tilden  and  Hayes  campaign,  76-81. 

Union  Printer,  The,  Xew  York,  editorial  on  Mr.  Childs's  birth- 
day, 387. 

Victoria,  Queen,  Jubilee  Year  of,  197-199,  202-204,  207,  209, 
212,  215,  218,  230,  237,  248,  250,  255,  265. 

message  from,  232,  249,  257. 

toast  to,  226,  232. 
"Vignettes  of  Travel,"  quotation  from,  285,  286. 

Walter,   John,    proprietor  of    London   Times,  entertains    Mr. 

Childs  at  "  Bearwood,"  40. 
writes  to  Mr.  Childs,  95. 

present  at  dedication  of  Shakespeare  Fountain,  2-18. 
proposes  toast  to  Mr.  Childs  and  gives  short  sketch  of  his 

life,  232-236,  251,  254,  260. 


404  '      Index. 

Walton,  Izaak,  author,  281.  * 

Warwick  Advertiser,  extract  from,  249. 

Washington,  George,  President  of  United  States,  letter  of,  66. 
Weed,  Thurlow,  journalist,  29,  30. 

Westminster  Abbey,  Herbert  and  Cowper  Window  in,  192,  196, 
202,  210,  218,  255,  264,  274-277,  280,  282,  2S3,  299,  304, 
307. 
description  of,  284-286. 
West  Point  Military  Academy,  139-183. 
monuments  in  cemetery  at,  140,  141. 

portraits  of  Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan  pre- 
sented to  Military  Academy,  and  ceremonies  attending, 
140,  145-165. 
description  of  portraits,  147,  163,  164,  169,  175. 
West  Point  Report,  179,  183. 

Wheeler,  General,  introduces  West  Point  Bill,  ISO,  181. 
Whitman,  Walt,  poet,  visits  Mr.  Childs,  130. 
Whittier,  John  G.,  poet,  letters  from,  217,  218,  254,  258,  302. 
lines  of,  under  Milton  Window  in  St.  Margaret's,  296,  298, 
301,  305. 
Wilson,   Henry,  Vice-President  of  United   States,  visits  Mr. 
Childs,  75,  76,  127. 
death  of,  76. 
Wilson,  John  M.,  Colonel,  superintendent  of  Military  Acad- 
emy, 146,  148,  164. 
accepts  portraits  for  Academy,  150. 
Winter,  William,  journalist,  description  of  Shakespeare  Foun- 
tain, 263. 
Winthrop,  Hon.  Robert  C,  extract  from  letter  of,  110. 
is  a  guest  of  Mr.  Childs,  131. 

inscription  in  church  at  Elberon,  New  Jersey,  on  General 
Grant,  90. 
Woodcock,  Catherine,  wife  of  Milton,  290-292,  297,  298,  304. 
Wordsworth,  William,  poet,  56. 

Young,  John  Russell,  journalist,  accompanies  General  Grant 
on  his  tour  around  the  world,  119. 
appointment  as  Minister  to  China,  123. 
letter  from,  380.   - 


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